Despite ongoing increases in the cost of living, Vietnamese workers will receive a rise in the minimum wage of only 5.3% next year, which is lower than previous years.
Increases, brokered by the country’s National Wage Council, stood at 6.5% last year, and 7.3% in 2017.
The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), which represents employees, was keen for wages to go up by at least 6.1%, but employers’ association the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) proposed only 5.1%, according to Dezan Shira's Vietnam Briefing.
A VGCL survey, which was based on input from 3,000 workers in 150 businesses around the country, found that a quarter (26.5%) were ‘barely getting by’, while one in nine (12.5%) said their wages were insufficient to support their families. Two fifths (44%) of those questioned worked an average of 28 hours’ overtime to make ends meet.
The survey also revealed that the average worker’s monthly expenditure is VND 6.5 million (US$280), while an average base salary is only VND 4.6 million (US$197.8).
Gill Oliver is a business and property journalist who has written for The Daily Mail/Mail Online's This is Money, The Press Association and many national and regional newspapers and magazines.
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Despite ongoing increases in the cost of living, Vietnamese workers will receive a rise in the minimum wage of only 5.3% next year, which is lower than previous years.
Increases, brokered by the country’s National Wage Council, stood at 6.5% last year, and 7.3% in 2017.
The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), which represents employees, was keen for wages to go up by at least 6.1%, but employers’ association the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) proposed only 5.1%, according to Dezan Shira's Vietnam Briefing.
A VGCL survey, which was based on input from 3,000 workers in 150 businesses around the country, found that a quarter (26.5%) were ‘barely getting by’, while one in nine (12.5%) said their wages were insufficient to support their families. Two fifths (44%) of those questioned worked an average of 28 hours’ overtime to make ends meet.
The survey also revealed that the average worker’s monthly expenditure is VND 6.5 million (US$280), while an average base salary is only VND 4.6 million (US$197.8).
Gill Oliver is a business and property journalist who has written for The Daily Mail/Mail Online's This is Money, The Press Association and many national and regional newspapers and magazines.
OTHER ARTICLES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
The changing face of Vietnam's labour market
Vietnam to boost number of employer tax audits
Women in the workforce in the ASEAN region
