Income only meets 45% of spending needs

At the conference to announce the report on the implementation of the survey and assessment of the labor situation, wages, income, expenditure and life of workers in 2023, Ms. Pham Thi Thu Lan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) said that the unit had conducted a survey of nearly 3,000 workers in 6 provinces and cities.

Surveyed businesses have reduced their workforce by 10% compared to 2022.

The survey showed that 52.3% of workers worked overtime, an average of 1.75 hours/day. The majority of workers surveyed volunteered to work overtime to earn more income and improve their lives.

Ms. Lan said that in 2024, the shortage of orders is forecast to continue, when 17.2% of surveyed businesses said that the shortage of orders in 2024 will increase compared to 2023.

Basic salary including full working hours is more than 6 million VND/month, 8.4% higher than the March 2022 survey, 37.5% to 51.9% higher than the regional minimum wage depending on the region.

Spending in 2023 increased by 19% compared to 2022, with total spending of nearly 12 million VND/month. Of which, they spent more on food, accounting for nearly 70%.

According to the survey, more than 24% of workers can barely meet basic expenses, while up to 75.5% of workers said their current income does not meet their spending needs, and in some cases, their income only meets 45% of their spending needs.

The Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions informed that more than 53% of workers consider getting married and not having children because of their salary. Their salary is not enough to take care of their children in the city, so they have to send them back to their hometown.

Regarding housing, more than 23% of salary is used to pay rent, an average of 1.8 million VND/month including electricity and water.

Besides, most of the 157 enterprises participating in the survey have established a salary scale, the lowest level is equal to the regional minimum wage.

23.4% of enterprises, when determining the regional minimum wage, have cut out two allowances for hazardous work and training allowance. Most enterprises adjust the regional minimum wage according to the Government's decree, but 10.1% still adjust it lower by 6%.

No increase... no way

Mr. Nguyen Thai Duong, Vice President of Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union, said that union officials want workers to have jobs and increase their income.

However, businesses have faced many difficulties in recent times. In the first 6 months of the year, the export turnover of the textile and garment industry decreased by more than 20%, equivalent to nearly 4 billion USD. The number of workers who lost their jobs reached more than 600,000 people.

Reality shows that there is a shift of orders to other countries and fierce price competition. In the first 6 months of the year, the processing unit price decreased by more than 30%.

Mr. Duong assessed that this is related to workers' wages and the minimum wage that will be negotiated soon.

"For industries that do not calculate wages based on products, when adjusting the regional minimum wage, the new wage structure will be included in the product cost. From there, the wage fund will increase, and basically, workers will benefit from this wage increase," Mr. Duong analyzed.

However, with the unit of product-based salary calculation, the salary structure based on processing unit price accounts for almost 60%. When processing prices decrease and industrial labor productivity does not increase, adjusting the regional minimum wage will not affect the actual income of workers.

The Vice President of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union said that this salary adjustment mainly increases the salary part of social insurance contributions. When this part increases, businesses have to calculate, so sometimes the income of workers will decrease.

In the upcoming regional minimum wage negotiation session, Mr. Duong said that it is necessary to consider and compare the negative impacts of wage increases such as market prices. "Wages are not yet visible, but rising prices clearly affect the lives of workers," said the Vice President of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union.

Ahead of the upcoming salary negotiation session, this person believes that it is necessary to calculate the minimum wage increase to compensate for inflation. "No increase is also not acceptable," Mr. Duong affirmed.

This person analyzed that increasing the regional minimum wage for those who do not meet the regional minimum wage is meaningful. Some businesses with employees who do not meet the regional minimum wage have had to compensate with salaries from those who are higher.

However, for those with higher salaries, such as the average salary in the textile industry in the first 6 months of the year was 8.8 million VND/person, when salaries increased, real income did not increase.

However, to ensure the rights of the labor group when enjoying the policy regime, Mr. Duong still proposed a reasonable increase, harmonizing the interests of businesses and workers.