Hundreds of businesses over the past month have had to halt production which has pushed hundreds of thousands of workers into unemployment or reduced working hours.

Some 68.7% of 51.9 million people of working age are employed, not counting those in the informal sector, while the unemployment rate stays low at 2.3%, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

According to the General Statistics Office's Report, the labor and employment situation in the third quarter of 2022 continued to recover.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused turbulence in the labor market in Vietnam in 2021.

Data released recently by the General Statistics Office shows that in 2021 the average monthly income of workers in Vietnam was 5.7 million VND, down 32,000 VND compared to 2020.

More than 1.4 million Vietnamese were unemployed in 2021, up 203,700 from the previous year or 17 percent, due to impacts of the worst-ever fourth wave of COVID-19 infections for months, data from the General Statistics Office showed.

The number of employed people in Q3/2021 fell sharply compared to the previous quarter and the same period of last year, while unemployment and underemployment rates increased to an all-time high.

The National Assembly Standing Committee has permitted the Government to use VND30 trillion from the Unemployment Insurance Fund in order to support employees affected by the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, up to 12.8 million Vietnamese people aged 15 and older were negatively affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in the second quarter of 2021.

The unemployment statistics in Vietnam are always controversial.

The Covid-19 pandemic left 1.3 million Vietnamese people unemployed in 2020, said the Department of Population and Labor Statistics under the General Statistics Office (GSO) at a press briefing in Hanoi on January 6.

The rapid development of technology is a threat to workers, as robots can now replace many hotel and bank officers.

Many carpenters are gathering on Hanoi's Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street to wait for the busy time ahead of the Tet Holiday.

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of workers in HCM City have lost their jobs or have had their wages reduced. 

As of September, 31.8 million above-15-year-old labourers in Vietnam were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with either job losses, reduced working hours and income or rotational leave.

A total of 2.4 million jobs have been lost in Vietnam in the first two quarters this year, the biggest reduction for the period in the past decade, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of unemployed youths in Vietnam may double this year, while the employment prospects of 663 million young people in Asia and the Pacific face challenges as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

By the end of 2020, 70% of enterprises and 3.5-5 million workers are forecast to be negatively affected.

Analysts have warned of the second wave of layoffs which may come six months after the first period, which were caused by the effects of the pandemic.