Looking forward to a warm Tet at the end of the year: Just finished work and working overtime

Although knowing that it will be more tiring and difficult, the already difficult life becomes even more difficult during the Tet holiday. Therefore, many workers, especially freelancers, have to work overtime right after finishing their shift at one place.

Dinh Lenh Tuan and the grapefruit cart are still quite full even though the sky is getting darker - Photo: C.TRIEU

On a late night bus from Vo Van Tan Street (District 3) to Binh Tan District (HCMC), motorbike taxi driver T. (name withheld) said he was working overtime. It was only after the conversation that we learned that T.'s main job is a technology engineer.

I really want to spend Tet with my family and relatives, but it's too difficult so I'll have to stay here this Tet. I'm thinking that I'll probably take advantage of the summer to let my grandchild visit his grandparents.

Mr. DINH LENH TUAN (35 years old, from Thanh Hoa , selling fruit on the street)

After work, turn on the app to drive a motorbike taxi

T. graduated from information technology with his main job being programming and testing games for a company based in Thu Duc City. The story on the bus T. drove revolved around the difficulties of people working in information technology at the moment.

Previously, T. had a lot of work, and each month he received no less than 1,000 USD. Not to mention the additional income from taking on outside jobs, selling game cards and attracting customers to play games, which also brought him close to his main salary.

But over the past year, the company has had few new projects and many of T.'s colleagues have been forced to "jump ship" and find other places. "But it's difficult for everyone, so it's the same no matter where they go," T. is trying to explain why he's still stuck with the company until now.

T. jokingly said that calling him an IT engineer "sounds cool" but the actual monthly salary of about 9 million VND is considered to be near the bottom of the profession. So when he finishes work in the afternoon and leaves the company, T. turns on the app to drive a motorbike taxi. The reason is because this job has a simple registration procedure, flexible hours, few constraints and earns "cash on the table".

So it has become a habit that every day after work, T. will turn on the overtime app and run "when you feel tired, go home and rest". That said, due to financial pressure and the approaching Tet holiday, T. almost never turns off the app before 11pm.

There was a time when T. worked continuously all night, and only when his eyes were tired and blurry from sleep did he look at the clock and realize it was 2am. "I want to give my parents some money to spend during Tet and then study English next year to find a new job, so I have to try hard," T. confided.

The demand for shopping during Tet is high, so many shippers are secretly happy because they earn a little extra - Photo: C.TRIEU

Do two or three things at once

It has been three Tet holidays since My Giang (24 years old, garment worker in Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City) has not returned to Quang Nam to celebrate Tet with her family. This year, she also took advantage of the end of the year to work overtime to earn more money.

Partly because the bus fare from Ho Chi Minh City to Quang Nam is normally only 600,000 VND, but during Tet, the bus companies increase the price to 1.7 million VND/ticket. The family of three just spent more than ten million VND on the bus fare, which is too much for a worker's family.

The company has a Tet holiday on the 26th of the lunar calendar, so where is the overtime work? Giang laughed and said that the company has other work to do during those days. Giang said she will go get her nails done and get her eyebrows tattooed, which is a job she used to pursue.

Then, I also calculated the import of some special Tet goods such as lucky money envelopes, scented bags... to earn extra money in the days before Tet. "During Tet, women's beauty needs are also high, customers with a year-end mentality are willing to spend a little more and give tips, so it's okay," Giang laughed.

Meanwhile, for freelance workers like Dinh Lenh Tuan (35 years old, from Thanh Hoa), overtime is almost mandatory and must be taken advantage of at the end of the year. Coming to Ho Chi Minh City since 2011, Tuan has also experienced countless jobs from shoemaking worker, tailor, mechanic, guava street vendor..., and currently a grapefruit street vendor.

The sky was getting darker but Tuan's grapefruit cart was still quite full. Tuan said that about three years ago, selling fruit on the street was not as difficult as it is now. At that time, Tuan could sell 200kg of guava, apples, and watermelons every day, so there were days when he could make millions in profit.

But at present, with the same items, trading in the same area as before and selling about 100kg per day is already a great joy, almost no day can reach this number.

So to earn more, Tuan chose to start selling earlier than before. He calculated that before, a full tank of gas could last three days, and selling 600kg of fruit was normal.

Now, running around everywhere uses up a whole tank of gas and at best only sells 100kg/day. Consider the cost tripled but the amount sold is 1/6 "then how much money is left".

" The economy is difficult, every industry is cutting back so people only focus on buying essentials. Fruit sounds necessary but it's okay not to eat it," Tuan laughed bitterly.

There was a time when business was difficult, Tuan returned to his hometown to open a mechanic shop but could not last long and went into debt. Mostly because customers owed him too much while he did not have enough capital to continue to owe. So he found a way to go to the South to make a living.

Tuan had been struggling with everything but nothing was peaceful. He had to go back to selling fruit because "he was always worried about being fined for encroaching on the sidewalk or using a homemade rickshaw".

Shipper is happy to work overtime

The demand for shopping, especially online shopping, is increasing at the end of the year, so shippers are secretly happy. Shipper Tran Quoc Thang (35 years old, from Ca Mau) said that the number of orders he has delivered has increased by about 30%. He often delivers on some routes around Binh Tan and Binh Chanh districts (HCMC).

He boasted that because there were still many orders, Tet was about two weeks away but the company had not yet announced a holiday schedule, while last year the holiday was from the 29th of the lunar calendar. On average, for each successful order, Thang received a fee of about 4,000 VND.

The basic salary is about 5 million VND/month if he works enough. If he is lucky enough to have many orders in a month, he will receive a total of about 11 million VND. "It's almost Tet so I see more orders every day. I calculate that this Tet month I will probably get about 15 million VND, with a little extra to have money to go home," Thang laughed.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cuoi-nam-mong-tet-am-vua-tan-ca-lai-tang-ca-2025011523023213.htm