(TIỂU LUẬN) ADVANCED PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION GROUP 5 RESEARCH TOPIC UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC

1 FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS =====000===== ADVANCED PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION GROUP RESEARCH TOPIC: UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Name Bui Phu Khang Pham Ba Loc Le Huy Phat Tran Quoc Binh ID 2012280017 2011280208 2012280032 2013280008 Name Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu Tran Thao Minh Nhi Vu Ngan Giang Vu Uyen Nhi ID 2012280030 2012280029 2014280202 2013280026 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION Reason for choosing the topic Aims and Objectives Study Scope Methodology CHAPTER 1: BASIC RATIONALE 1.1 DEFINITION OF UNEMPLOYMENT .6 1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT 1.3 CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT .8 1.3.1 Unemployment from a Recession 1.3.2 The Natural Rate of Unemployment 1.4 EFFECTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT 1.4.1 Effects of unemployment on the economy 1.4.2 Effects of unemployment on employees and their families 1.4.3 Effects of unemployment on politics and society .10 CHAPTER 2: UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC .12 2.1 STATISTIC OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC .12 2.1.1 Unemployment rate by area .12 2.1.2 Underutilized labor force 13 2.1.3 Unemployment rate by education level 14 2.1.4 Youth unemployment rate 14 2.2 CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC .15 2.3 EFFECT OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC .16 2.3.1 Effects of unemployment on the economy 16 2.3.2 Effects of unemployment on employees and their families .18 CHAPTER 3: GOVERNMENT POLICY AND EXPERT RECOMMENDATION .19 3.1 GOVERNMENT POLICY .19 3.1.1 Policies on monetary 19 3.1.2 Policies on education & training 19 3.1.3 Policies to support businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic 20 3.2 EXPERT RECOMMENDATION .21 CONCLUSION .23 REFERENCE 24 Table of Figur Figure 1: The unemployment rate in the working-age in the 2nd quarter of the period 2011 - 2020 by urban and rural areas (Unit: %) .13 Figure 2: Working-age unemployment rate by professional and technical qualifications (Unit: %) .14 Figure 3: GDP growth rate in Vietnam from 2011 to 2020 (Unit %) 17 Figure 4: Policies to reduce unemployment 21 Y Equation: Calculate Unemployment Rate .6 INTRODUCTION Reason for choosing the topic Unemployment is universally regarded as undesirable Unemployment is a state of affairs in which people who are actively looking for work are unable to find work Unemployment is a global issue that affects both developed and developing countries alike Because of the COVID19 pandemic, this is more prominent than ever It has gotten worse over time, especially since the global economic crisis, and it has become a threat to social development, whilst consideration must be given to global economics Vietnam's development in the economy over the past 30 years is remarkable Economic and political reforms since 1986 have spurred economic development, rapidly transforming Vietnam from one of the poorest countries in the world to a low-middle-income country 2019 marked the success of Vietnam's economy for the second consecutive year, achieving and exceeding 12/12 socio-economic development targets (World Bank, 2021) According to The Ministry of Finance, some key factors supporting economic growth in 2019 were: macroeconomic stability has been consolidated more firmly; inflation was controlled at a low level, the roadmap for adjusting public service prices had reached the final stage However, Vietnam's economy in 2019 had to face several types of unemployment are workload or to this types of unemployment are risks such as complicated and unpredictable trade tensions, which continued to affect the global economic outlook and consumption and investment demand from other countries in the world Therefore, the Vietnamese economy will still encounter serious problems when facing an economic shock and in this case, is the COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19's breakout has posed unprecedented problems, and it has been a substantial influence on Vietnam's economic growth The pandemic caused delays and interruptions in manufacturing, supply, and commerce circulation, aviation, tourism, labor, and employment Many firms have had to halt operations or go bankrupt, dissolve, or scale down their production and activities Many others are facing the possibility of losing their employment This will have a direct impact on their everyday lives, as a result of the epidemic Unemployment has become a major topic that people worry about, as well as one of the government's main priorities Moreover, the labor market crisis created by the COVID-19 epidemic is far from finished, according to the International Labour Organization's World Job and Social Outlook – Trends 2021, and employment growth will not be enough to balance the harm until at least 2023 As a rapidly developing country, Vietnam needs abundant human resources in different industries The COVID-19 period caused many negative impacts on various sections of the economy, including the labor force Those effects are expected to lead to unwilling outcomes for the economy Therefore, Vietnam's unemployment problem in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic needs to be taken seriously by the Government Aims and Objectives For the reasons mentioned above, the primary goal of this research is to help students deepen their understanding of unemployment in Vietnam during the Covid-19 pandemic This research will highlight the basic principle of unemployment and the work labor situation in Vietnam Simultaneously, based on outstanding concerns, we will also demonstrate some government policies, and experts’ recommendations to deal with the problem Study Scope Although unemployment is not a new issue in Vietnam, it affected the economy dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic Therefore, all research and statistics are focused on unemployment in Vietnam from 2020 to the beginning of 2021 Methodology This study's primary methodology is secondary data The data was gathered from previous studies and papers, filtered to remove any irrelevant or inaccurate information, and then used to form our own opinion and assessment Under each section of the report, all sources of publications and articles are cited CHAPTER 1: BASIC RATIONALE 1.1 DEFINITION OF UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment is the number of people in working age who are without work, but available for work at current wage rates The most common measure of unemployment is the unemployment rate The unemployment rate is expressed as a percentage and calculated as follows: Equation: Calculate Unemployment Rate To understand how the unemployment rate is calculated we can use an example In this example, 12.6 million people are employed and 0.7 million people are unemployed The size of the labor force is calculated as the sum of these groups Employed + Unemployed = Labour Force 12.6m + 0.7m = 13.3m With the unemployment rate being the percentage of people in the labor force who are unemployed, using the numbers in our example and the equation below, the unemployment rate is calculated as 5.3 percent Unemployment Rate = (Unemployed / Labour force) * 100 = (0.7 / 13.3) *100 = 5.3% Unemployment rate is the most commonly used indicator for understanding conditions in the labor market The labor market is the term used by economists when talking about the supply of labor (from households) and demand for labor (from businesses and other organizations) The unemployment rate can also provide insights into how the economy is performing more generally, making it an important factor in thinking about monetary policy 1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT There are types of unemployment that are most prominent Structural unemployment is one of the main types of unemployment within an economic system It focuses on the structural problems within an economy and inefficiencies in labor markets Structural unemployment occurs when a labor market is not able to provide jobs for everyone who is seeking employment There is a mismatch between the skills of the unemployed workers and the skills needed for the available jobs It is often impacted by persistent cyclical unemployment For example, when an economy experiences long-term unemployment individuals become frustrated and their skills become obsolete As a result, when the economy recovers they may not fit the requirements of new jobs due to their inactivity Structural unemployment tends to be longer lasting than other types of unemployment This is because it can take several years for workers to develop new skills or move to a different region to find a job that matches their skills As a result, workers who are unemployed because of structural factors are more likely to face long-term unemployment (for more than 12 months) Frictional unemployment is another type of unemployment within an economy It is the period between jobs when a worker is searching for or transitioning from one job to another Frictional unemployment is always present to some degree in an economy It occurs when there is a mismatch between the workers and jobs The mismatch can be related to skills, payment, work time, location, seasonal industries, attitude, taste, and other factors Frictional unemployment is influenced by voluntary decisions to work based on each individual’s valuation of their workload Cyclical unemployment is a type of unemployment that occurs when there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy to provide jobs for everyone who wants to work In an economy, demand for most goods falls, less production is needed, and fewer workers are needed With cyclical unemployment, the number of unemployed workers is greater than the number of job vacancies In addition to these types of unemployment most often focused on, MintLife Blog mentions other types of unemployment that you might encounter or experience:  Regional unemployment: This occurs when an industry moves out of an area, or some other localized condition causes unemployment  Seasonal unemployment: Some jobs only exist during some parts of the year For example, ski instructors might face seasonal unemployment during the warmer months  Voluntary unemployment: People might be voluntarily unemployed if they are making enough money from other sources, such as a spouse, inheritance, or investments  Classical unemployment: Classical unemployment occurs when the rate of wages is too high for employers to afford, so there is a surplus of unemployed labor 1.3 CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment is caused by a multitude of factors on both the demand and supply sides Demand-side reductions might be influenced by high-interest rates, a global recession, or a financial catastrophe Factors that cause a change in supply sides include employment wage and technological change Frictional unemployment and structural employment also have a big impact on the supply side (Pettinger, 2014) In many countries around the world, the causes of unemployment can be divided into two categories: cyclical unemployment, which is caused by the economy being in a slump, and natural rate unemployment, which is caused by factors in labor markets such as government regulations on hiring and starting businesses 1.3.1 Unemployment from a Recession The Keynesian economic model emphasizes that both monetary and fiscal policy options are available to address unemployment induced by a recession The prescription for dealing with a recession is simple: use an expansionary monetary policy to raise the amount of money and loans available, lower interest rates, and boost aggregate demand 1.3.2 The Natural Rate of Unemployment In principle, addressing the natural rate of unemployment is simple, but in fact, it is challenging The government can help by giving unemployment and welfare benefits, enacting rules governing where and when enterprises can operate, and ensuring worker safety However, in certain circumstances, these well-intentioned restrictions might become so intrusive that businesses decide to limit their hiring Legislation that imposes high costs on a company that tries to dismiss or lay off employees, for example, will cause companies to want to avoid recruiting in the first place 1.4 EFFECTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT 1.4.1 Effects of unemployment on the economy Unemployment increases government payments for unemployment benefits and food assistance Simultaneously, governments are no longer receiving the same amounts of income tax as previously, forcing them to borrow money, deferring the costs and impacts of unemployment into the future, or cut back on another spending When people are unemployed, they spend less money, resulting in a lower contribution to the economy in terms of services or goods supplied and produced, lowering GDP and shifting the country away from effective resource allocation Businesses pay a price for high unemployment Unemployment benefits are mostly funded by business taxes When unemployment is high, states frequently attempt to replenish their coffers by raising company taxes, which discourages companies from hiring more workers Companies are not only facing lower demand for their products, but it is also more expensive for them to keep or hire employees (Simpson, 2020) 1.4.2 Effects of unemployment on employees and their families Unemployment generates financial difficulty for workers, which has an impact on their families, relationships, and communities The repercussions of unemployment are far-reaching 10 Even individuals who are not laid off from their office employment may find that their jobs (as well as their personal life) have been harmed  Employees Work Harder but Earn Less: In a piece for The New York Times titled "The Enduring Consequences of Unemployment," it was pointed out that workers who were laid off during the severe early 1980s recession, for example, earned around 20% less than the average 20 years later  Impact on Retirement Savings: One of the first things to be impacted by the loss of a job is personal savings accounts According to a 2017 research from The Hartford, 42 percent of respondents avoided the market after the 2008 financial crisis, while 26 percent modified their retirement plans  Health problems: The bodily santé of a person may also be affected by unemployment Unemployment can lead to stress-related disorders such as headaches, hypertension, diabetes, cardiac illness, back pain, and sleeplessness While the chances of unemployed persons spending money on health expenditure are lower Through skip preventive actions, the danger of bodily and psychological deterioration is increased Throughout the board, the stability of children with unemployed parents is lower When struggling to make ends meet, anxiety can strain the parent-child relationship and take a toll on not only the physical but also the mental health of individual family members Economic and psychological pressures that can lead to changes in accommodation or family friction can have long-term adverse effects on children's development (Lindner & Peters, 2016) 1.4.3 Effects of unemployment on politics and society Unemployment also impacts politics and society The more persistent the issue, the more likely society will experience potential negative effects such as lower human capital, higher crime and poverty, and civil unrest  The efficiency of resource uses: A high-unemployment economy does not make efficient use of all of its resources, particularly labor When people take jobs that are below their 13 Figure 1: The unemployment rate in the working-age in the 2nd quarter of the period 2011 - 2020 by urban and rural areas (Unit: %) In 2021, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the working-age unemployment rate in the second quarter was 2.62%, down 0.11 percentage points over the same period last year Of these, the working-age unemployment rate in urban areas was 3.36%, down 1.1 percentage points relative to the respective periods (Ha, 2021) 2.1.2 Underutilized labor force In the context where the pandemic has continued to spread, the working-age unemployment rate still shows the sign of increase: The working-age unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2021 was 2.62% However, according to the “Report on the impact of covid-19 on labor and employment” (2021), the ongoing pandemic, with its complicated developments, has robbed workers of any hope of finding work As a result, after losing a job, workers believe they will be unable to find another job and choose to leave the labor force temporarily, becoming part of the economy's underutilized labor force This makes the number of unemployed people not increase in tandem with the number of people who lose their jobs and are pushed out of the 14 labor market and therefore results in the unemployment rate not increasing as high, only hovering around 2% even if the labor market experienced many uncertainties 2.1.3 Unemployment rate by education level The working-age unemployment rates among workers with professional and technical qualifications in the second quarter of 2021 all decreased relative to the same period last year From the data collected by the General Statistics Office, these rates in elementary, intermediate, college, and university and above groups decreased by 1.35, 0.37; 0.47, and 0.09 percentage points, in that order, relative to the previous quarter However, compared to the data in the 2nd quarter of 2019 (before the COVID outbreak), the unemployment rate is still larger: these rates in elementary, intermediate, and college groups increase by 0.85, 0.04, and 0.19 percentage points, respectively Meanwhile, the rate in university and above decreases by 0.2% points This situation suggests that when the economy is in shock, unqualified workers encounter more difficulties in job opportunities than those with professional and technical qualifications Figure 2: Working-age unemployment rate by professional and technical qualifications (Unit: %) 2.1.4 Youth unemployment rate 15 During the pandemic, the youth unemployment rate remained high The proportion of youth (15 to 24 years old) not in employment, education, or training (NEET) continued to climb According to the data from the General Statistics Office:  In the second quarter of 2021, the youth unemployment rate (i.e 15-24 years old) was 7.47%, 0.97% percentage point higher than in the same period before the pandemic (in 2019), and nearly times higher than the working-age unemployment rate The youth unemployment rate in urban areas was 1.5 times higher than in rural areas That is, in urban areas, for every 100 young economically active people aged 15-24, about 10 people are unemployed, this number is in rural areas  In the second quarter of 2021, the whole country had nearly million (accounting for 16.7%) young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education, or training, an increase of 243,000 people over the same period last year The youth NEET rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas, 18.7% relative to 13.3%, and much higher among young women than young men, 19.1% versus 14.4% 2.2 CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC The Covid-19 pandemic appeared in Vietnam from January 2020 has directly affected the situation of labor and employment in all sectors and all provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, pushing tens of millions of workers into unemployment or underemployment For this extremely serious unemployment situation to occur, we need to consider many different causes:  On the demand side, one of the causes was the global recession Covid -19 pandemic has seriously affected all socio-economic fields, disrupted supply chains, and trade flows, and stalled production, business, and service activities Many businesses went bankrupt, dissolved, suspended operations, downsized… Therefore, cutting down labor to reduce total costs is a must According to the Employment Department, in the first months of the year, the number of enterprises withdrawing from the market was higher than the number of newly-established enterprises, increasing by 25.5% over the same period last 16 year (there were 79.7 thousand enterprises withdraw from the market; 75.8 thousand enterprises registered for new establishment) On average, more than 11.3 thousand enterprises withdraw from the market every month The number of enterprises withdrawing from the labor market occurred in all industries, however, focusing heavily on the wholesale, retail, and repair of automobiles and motorcycles; manufacturing and processing industry; construction; accommodation and catering services; real estate business; education, (baotintuc.vn, 2021)  On the supply side, frictional unemployment was the main cause of unemployment Policies from the Government had affected businesses and the labor force with regulations on person-to-person distance and not congregating For example, the Directive no.16 of the Vietnamese government mentioned: "require everyone to stay at home, only going out in cases of absolute necessity, such as working at factories, production facilities, business establishments providing essential services and goods that are not closed or shut down shutdowns and other emergencies'' This forced the majority of the labor force to stay at home and drop their work 2.3 EFFECT OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 2.3.1 Effects of unemployment on the economy For every countries, unemployment is a waste of human resources It does not promote economic development and can easily lead to social disturbances The Covid-19 pandemic that appeared in Vietnam from January 2020 has directly affected the labor and employment in all industries The increase in unemployment means that the social labor force that cannot be mobilized into production and business activities increases This causes a waste of social labor one of the basic factors for economic development Furthermore, the lack of long-term use of professional skills also affected the skills of each worker The worker could not transfer to other professions or go back to work markets The Covid-19 pandemic made the manufacturer and the company unable to maximize labor resources From the beginning of 2020, production was interrupted due to the pandemic 17 outbreak The number of unskilled workers leaving the industrial area was increasing In the long term, there will be a shortage of human resources when businesses return to production As a result, the enterprises not have skilled workers to produce and have difficulty with their plans In 2020, the General Statistics Office declared that Vietnam had 101,700 cases of enterprise dissolution, which was an increase of 13.9% compared to last year (Aztaz, 2021) The increase in the number of bankrupt enterprises has reflected the difficulty of production and business conditions Rising unemployment also means the economy is in recession because real gross national income is below potential In general, in 2020, Vietnam's GDP increased by 2.91% (in the first quarter, by 3.68%; in the second quarter by 0.39%; in the third quarter by 2.69%; in the fourth quarter by 4,48%) This is the lowest increase of the years in the period 2011-2020 (Ha, 2020) Figure 3: GDP growth rate in Vietnam from 2011 to 2020 (Unit %) In addition, unemployment causes budget capital to be narrowed due to tax revenue loss The government must support workers who lose their jobs resulting in a decline in capital investment In 2021, the Government implemented support packages of 62,000 billion VND and 26,000 billion VND for people in difficulty because of the Covid-19 epidemic (Phan, 2021) The target of the support packages is to minimize the negative impacts of the pandemic, restoring production and business The support packages can also help to stabilize labor and employment, ensuring life and safety for workers However, the implementation result was only 53% of the plan (Hong, 2021) The Government needs to have appropriate policies to optimize the bailout packages, avoiding losses to the national budget 18 2.3.2 Effects of unemployment on employees and their families Unemployment cuts off the main source of income for workers (especially in developed market countries), and at the same time, cuts off the means of livelihood of workers and their families The closing of businesses makes many workers temporarily unemployed, affecting their income and daily life As income stagnates, millions of Vietnamese are struggling to make ends meet The General Statistics Office conducted a survey covering 63 provinces and cities, including 46,995 representative households Accordingly, the average income in 2020 was about 4.23 million VND/person/month, declining about 2% compared to 2019 Workers without salary fall into poverty as they cannot afford basic living expenses such as rent, electricity, water Many families suffered from homelessness when they did not have enough money to pay for accommodation The consequences that unemployment creates for these households are significant: difficulties in going to school for young children, health declines due to lack of medical care, Unemployment puts a heavy burden on not only family expenditures but also the development of children The family's economic situation does not allow children to have the opportunity to attend a school or access educational facilities Parents are not eligible to pay tuition and study-related expenses, for example, laptop, smartphone for online learning In addition, the financial burden causes many children to drop out of school to work part-time to earn money for their families In rural families, children often have to work to contribute to the family income or help with housework Therefore, dropping out of school is a way to save money for the family and cut down on the opportunity cost of going to school 19 CHAPTER 3: GOVERNMENT POLICY AND EXPERT RECOMMENDATION 3.1 GOVERNMENT POLICY To safeguard the stability of the economy and the lives of those impacted by the epidemic, the Vietnamese government has implemented programs to address the covid 19 unemployment concerns 3.1.1 Policies on monetary Loan to pay job severance payment: The employer is entitled to a 0% interest loan from the Bank for Social Policies and is not required to conduct loan security measures in order to pay the employee's stoppage salary According to the real pay-off period of up to three months, the maximum loan amount is equivalent to the regional minimum salary for the number of employees The loan is for less than a year Loan to pay wages to restore production: Employers must temporarily suspend operations due to the request of competent state agencies to prevent COVID-19, and employers operating in the fields of transportation, goods, tourism, accommodation services, and sending Vietnamese workers abroad under contracts are eligible for a loan from the Bank for Social Policies at a 0% interest rate and a repayment period of up to two years Loans to pay wages to employees who are employed under a labor contract and are required to participate in social insurance The maximum loan amount is equal to the regional minimum wage multiplied by the number of employees employed under a labor contract for a period of up to three months The loan is for types of unemployment are less than a year (Portal of Thanh Hoa Department of Justice, 2021) 3.1.2 Policies on education & training The employer is entitled to financial support for training, retraining, and improvement of vocational skills from the Unemployment Insurance Fund when fully paying unemployment insurance premiums for employees for a full 12 months or more (Portal of Thanh Hoa Department of Justice, 2021) 20 3.1.3 Policies to support businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Facing the unemployment issue during the covid 19 pandemic, at the regular Government meeting held in early May 2021, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung proposed that the Government assigns the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs to urgently research and implement policies and solutions to support workers who are still facing difficulties due to the impact of the epidemic; at the same time, promote the connection between supply and demand in the labor market, and activities to support job search for workers (Thuy, 2021) Specifically, ministries, branches, and localities need to create conditions to continue to remove difficulties for production enterprises; in which, focusing on reforming processes and procedures so that enterprises can access simple, convenient, and timely support policies to stimulate the economy, as well as demand for labor These measures help businesses and employees escape the risk of bankruptcy, job loss, and income reduction and, but also create a driving force to promote business development Along with that, the General Statistics Office leaders also suggested that localities actively deploy specific support packages, diversify forms of subsidies, and expand vocational training programs suitable for many different subjects objects, especially female workers, workers without professional and technical qualifications, informal workers, to stabilize social security, create motivation for employees to work, and contribute to the process of rehabilitation recovery and economic development On July 20, the Government issued Resolution No 78 /NQ-CP thematic session of the Government on COVID-19 prevention and control In particular, the Government requires agencies and units to increase work online, and arrange for employees to work alternately at the office by no more than 50% Each job position at the unit only assigns person to work permanently at the agency With the remaining staff, they will alternate work, work online accordingly and check the compliance with epidemic prevention work of the people in the area Besides, it is increasing the opening of many job exchanges to help more people find suitable new jobs To create favorable conditions for employees and the recruitment needs of 21 enterprises during the epidemic, the Employment Service Center has increased the activities of counseling on job introduction, job retraining, and job creation for people with disabilities labor The center organizes job sessions at the exchange points for workers to directly meet recruiting enterprises to find jobs according to the capacity and needs of the employer Along with that, the City Social Insurance also directs its affiliated units to actively coordinate with the district, district, and enterprise Labor Confederations to handle issues related to social insurance benefits and insurance health care, unemployment insurance for workers 3.2 EXPERT RECOMMENDATION The issue of unemployment during the COVID-19 epidemic is still exceedingly stressful all over the world Therefore, the government needs to develop appropriate strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of this circumstance Fiscal policy, monetary policy, education and training, geographical subsidies, lower minimum wages, or the removal of labor market rules are some of the typical policy alternatives that can be used Figure 4: Policies to reduce unemployment Economic expert Nguyen Bich Lam, Director of the General Statistics Office, suggested that ‘Enterprises need to apply technology to production stages and processes where machinery 22 and equipment can replace workers to stabilize society The Government and the business community need to create a social security fund to ensure a minimum life for lost workers These policies not only maintain production activities but also improve labor productivity of the econom’ Dr Chang-Hee Lee, Director of the International Labor Organization in Vietnam, answered when asked about the solution to the unemployment problem during the current covid19 pandemic ‘Different businesses have difficulties This means that Government support should target businesses with positive prospects because of their productivity and innovation but facing a temporary crisis I would also like to emphasize that the Government should direct support and assistance packages to businesses that their best to keep workers and reduce unemployment through adjustments to working hours, job sharing, on-the-job training, and wage reductions in consultation with unions and workers Do our best in keeping workers and minimizing layoffs, thereby slowing down the layoff process, minimizing the shock to society caused by the crisis while preserving worker productivity for a faster post-COVID-19 recovery’ (www.ilo.org, 2021) 23 CONCLUSION The problem of unemployment is not a new issue that emerged overnight Unemployment is a socio-economic phenomenon that exists for many periods and is considered a central problem of modern societies When the unemployment rate is high, it will directly or indirectly affect all aspects of social life Although 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DURING THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC 2.1 STATISTIC OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC Before the Covid- 19 pandemic, according to the data from the General Statistics Office, the unemployment. .. CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC . 15 2.3 EFFECT OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN VIETNAM DURING THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC .16 2.3.1 Effects of unemployment. .. support businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID- 19 pandemic Facing the unemployment issue during the covid 19 pandemic, at the regular Government meeting held in early May 2021, Minister