Not expecting a Tet bonus, Ms. Oanh, a worker at a garment factory in Linh Trung (Thu Duc), was surprised to receive news that she would be getting a bonus in mid-January 2024.
Ms. Oanh said that during the Covid-19 years, despite the pandemic, orders were steady, and workers had to work overtime for 1-2 hours each day. This year, most workers at the company only work 8 hours, and some days they even get to leave 2 hours early.
"Despite slow business and reduced salaries, receiving a half-month bonus is a great joy for us," said Ms. Oanh.
Wishing their workers a happy Lunar New Year, the leader of a textile and garment company in Dong Nai said that this year they only achieved 60% of their revenue target and reduced their workforce by 30%, but still managed to give each employee a bonus of 0.7% of their monthly salary. "Despite the meager profits, we still made an effort to distribute Tet bonuses to our employees because they still have a lot of shopping and spending planned for the end of the year," the CEO of the company said.
Mr. Pham Van Viet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viet Thang Jean Co., Ltd. (VitaJean), also informed that in previous years, many individuals with good performance received bonuses of up to 2-3 months' salary. This year, however, the bonus amount has been significantly reduced. With over 3,200 employees, the company is trying to give each person a 13th-month bonus plus additional funds from the labor union.
For Vinatex Group - the largest enterprise in the textile and garment industry (nearly 63,000 employees) - this year the highest bonus among some of its subsidiaries is approximately two months' salary. Member units whose revenue and profits did not meet expectations will award a 13th-month salary bonus.
Workers at a garment factory in Tan Do Industrial Park, Long An province. Photo: Quynh Tran
Commenting on this year's Tet bonus levels, Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Textile, Garment and Embroidery Association, said it's a difficult problem for businesses in the industry. Companies that are losing money won't give bonuses, while most businesses, even those that only achieved 50-70% of their targets, still give Tet bonuses to workers ranging from 0.5 to 1 month's salary. This is also the common level in this industry.
According to VnExpress's calculations, with the average monthly salary of garment workers ranging from 8.2 to 9 million VND, employees will receive bonuses of at least 4 million VND and up to 10 million VND. In addition, company leaders will receive bonuses of around 20-40 million VND. This is a significant decrease compared to previous years.
In a challenging business environment, rewarding employees is a significant effort on the part of businesses. Mr. Pham Van Viet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viet Thang Jean Co., Ltd. (VitaJean), said that in addition to boosting exports, the company is also "following the trend" of livestream selling to increase profits.
According to him, due to the limited order volume, businesses have to be very careful with each contract. Unlike previous years, orders decreased sharply in the third quarter this year, but the situation improved again from the fourth quarter onwards. Thanks to their flexibility in adapting to unusual situations, Vinatex, like many other textile and garment businesses, has been able to turn things around in the current unpredictable environment.
"This year, orders have plummeted. We've tried everything to create jobs for our workers, but we still had to reduce our workforce by 7-8% compared to 2022. Even so, compared to the industry average, the company is still profitable," Mr. Viet revealed.
Mr. Viet also added that, in order to provide the aforementioned bonuses for employees, member companies had planned and "set aside" an estimated 1,500 billion VND from their income and profits since the beginning of the year.
Forecasting the textile and garment industry for 2024, Mr. Cao Huu Hieu, General Director of Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), said that the garment industry will see a more positive outlook from next year thanks to increased demand from many markets, but the yarn industry will still face difficulties in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, according to Mr. Pham Xuan Hong, the textile industry will be more prosperous next year as consumer demand returns. However, the industry still faces many challenges as the global situation and market remain unstable, with ongoing conflicts around the world causing further instability.
Thi Ha - Anh Minh
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