Workers lose their jobs, billion-dollar boarding house owner cries because of unsold rooms

Half of the rooms are unoccupied.

The land owned by Ms. Hoac Thi Nguyet (in Quang Chau commune, Bac Giang province) is quite close to factories and production facilities in the industrial zone located in the area. Recognizing the need for rental accommodation for migrant workers, Ms. Nguyet and her husband built a ten-room rental property about ten years ago.

As the Quang Chau industrial park flourished, attracting a large number of workers, Mrs. Nguyet's family decided to "go big," borrowing money from the bank to expand their business 15 times. The 150 rental rooms in the 5-story building were constructed with an investment of up to 5 billion VND.

Ms. Nguyet said: "Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were very few vacant rooms. As soon as a worker moved out, another worker came to rent and take over immediately."

Ms. Nguyet is worried because the dormitory has no workers to rent (photo: Que Chi).

At that time, after deducting expenses and bank interest payments, her family was able to save tens of millions of dong each month. The rental business was stable when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, causing a lot of disruption.

"We are still being severely affected. Workers are only renting half of the rooms we have. There are still many vacant rooms in the dormitory," said Ms. Nguyet.

Since the beginning of 2023, many businesses have been affected by reduced orders, stalled production, and fewer jobs for workers. Many workers have had to relocate, seeking more work in areas with greater job opportunities in order to make ends meet in a foreign land.

In recent days, Ms. Nguyet has been constantly checking the rooms before the workers leave. Many people cannot stay and have to clean up, move to other places to find work or return to their hometowns.

Ms. Nguyet's family invested billions of dong in building a motel (photo: Que Chi).

Mrs. Nguyet's family regularly kept an eye on the recruitment needs of businesses. A large electronics component manufacturing company was hiring for many positions, which made Mrs. Nguyet secretly happy. However, her rented accommodation was quite far from the company, so not many people had come to rent there yet.

Besides putting up "For Rent" signs, she also posts information about her rental properties on various social media groups to attract more workers. This is how she earns extra money for rent, covers her living expenses, and manages to pay off the large interest and debt to the bank.

Tens of thousands of workers have had their income reduced.

According to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Bac Giang province, as of June, 87 businesses in the province (accounting for 1.2% of operating businesses) had to cut or reduce their workforce, affecting the jobs and incomes of over 26,500 workers.

Among them, over 17,000 workers had their jobs terminated; more than 2,200 workers had to stop working or take unpaid leave; 862 workers had their labor contracts temporarily suspended; and over 6,200 workers had their working hours reduced.

The number of workers losing jobs and reducing jobs is mainly in the textile, manufacturing and assembly of electronic components.

According to the Bac Giang Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the reason for this situation is that some businesses operating in the fields of electronic component processing and assembly, and textiles, are experiencing a shortage or reduction of orders, leading them to reduce their workforce or implement rotational leave for workers.

Textile and garment industry is the industry with the most serious decline in labor recruitment demand (Photo: Pham Nguyen).

Currently, the province has over 285,300 workers employed in various businesses. In recent times, while some businesses have had to scale back production and operations, many others in the province have also started operating and expanding their production.

In the first six months of the year, businesses recruited over 25,000 workers. It is projected that the locality will need to recruit approximately 60,000 workers in the last six months of the year.

Recently, to support businesses and workers whose jobs are affected, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Bac Giang province has regularly monitored, promptly informed, and reported on the situation of businesses that have had their orders cut, their workforce cut, their working hours cut, and their operations temporarily suspended.

From there, proactively coordinate with competent authorities to propose and implement solutions to support production and business for enterprises; conduct inspections and supervision of enterprises' compliance with the law, labor use and payment of benefits according to the law for employees.

At the same time, the department directed the Provincial Employment Service Center and 20 employment service businesses in the area to regularly coordinate with businesses to support job searching for workers and assist businesses in recruiting enough workers to meet production development needs.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/cong-nhan-mat-viec-chu-khu-tro-tien-ty-khoc-vi-e-phong-20230719122602889.htm