[Audio] Not yet retired but already out of work

Many middle-aged workers worry about losing their jobs early and not being able to continue paying social insurance to receive pensions.

The economic difficulties after the Covid-19 pandemic have significantly affected businesses and workers. Many businesses are not recruiting or have cut workers. The most affected people are unskilled and middle-aged workers.

Early job loss

Over 40 years old, unemployed, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang and Ms. Pham Thi Duyen in Van To commune (Tu Ky) went to the Hai Duong Center for Employment Services - Vocational Education (Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) to complete procedures to receive unemployment benefits. With more than 10 years of experience working in the garment industry, Ms. Duyen and Ms. Hang were still fired and had great difficulty finding new jobs.

Ms. Hang said: “The decrease in orders has forced businesses to cut staff, and the first thing they target is middle-aged workers like us. When we apply for jobs elsewhere, we are rejected because of our old age.”

At the Hai Duong Vocational Education and Employment Service Center, there are many middle-aged workers looking for jobs, but they are all very difficult. The reason is that most businesses do not want to hire workers over 40 years old.

Mr. Nguyen Van Long, a recruitment specialist at an enterprise manufacturing electrical and electronic components in Dai An Industrial Park (Hai Duong City), said that the enterprise does not want to recruit elderly workers because their productivity will gradually decrease over time. Many employees of the enterprise, when entering middle age, are always worried about the risk of losing their jobs. 70% of the employees that the enterprise lays off each year are middle-aged workers.

Workers who lose their jobs in their early 40s, when they are still 20 years away from retirement age, face many difficulties in their lives. If they are not accepted by businesses, they will not be able to continue paying social insurance. This means they will not be eligible for pensions in the future.

“If we want to receive pensions, we have to continue paying voluntary social insurance. With no job, no salary, and many illnesses, when we reach middle age, where will we get the money to buy voluntary insurance to save for retirement?”, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuan, Tran An Garment Company Limited (Hai Duong City) shared.

According to statistics from the Center for Employment Services - Vocational Education, from the beginning of the year to May 17, Hai Duong had more than 5,000 workers applying for unemployment benefits, of which more than 30% were middle-aged workers (over 40 years old), an increase of nearly 50% over the same period in 2022.

The government should have policies to support businesses in creating jobs for middle-aged workers.

Hope to reduce retirement age

Losing a job in middle age makes the path to receiving a pension more difficult for workers. When losing a job, workers will not have their social insurance contributions paid by the company. The benefits for workers who fully participate in social insurance will also be lost. When studying the Law on Social Insurance (amended) expected to be submitted to the Government next June, submitted to the National Assembly for first comments at the October session, and voted for at the May 2024 session, Mr. Phung Van Nhat, a worker at Sumidenso Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Dai An Industrial Park) hopes that the state will study reducing the retirement age for workers.

“If women have to wait until they are 60 years old to retire and men have to wait until they are 65 years old to receive their pension, the waiting time is too long. I hope this time the government will have a plan to reduce the retirement age for workers,” Mr. Nhat suggested.

To receive a pension, workers must meet two conditions: having enough years of insurance contributions and waiting until the prescribed retirement age. This challenge is not easy to overcome, especially in the face of the temptation of a widespread wave of one-time social insurance withdrawals. In this revision, the draft Law on Social Insurance is calculating to reduce the number of years of contributions to receive a pension from 20 to 15 years, while tightening the one-time social insurance withdrawal policy. These revisions aim to increase workers' access to pensions. However, in reality, many workers are still very concerned because this proposal is not for the majority but is aimed at workers who join the social security system late.

Ms. Phung Thi Hai, a worker at Tinh Loi Garment Company Limited (Nam Sach), said that the biggest wish of workers is to reduce the retirement age so that the path to pension is closer and more importantly, the State needs to have policies so that middle-aged workers do not lose their jobs early.

Mr. Phan Nhat Minh, Deputy Director of Hai Duong Social Insurance, affirmed that in order to enjoy the insurance regime, employees must comply with the principle of "paying, receiving". Therefore, the fundamental solution is to create conditions for middle-aged workers to continue to have stable jobs. The State needs to have specific solutions for businesses that do not renew contracts with senior workers. Businesses can allocate and mobilize workers over 40 years old to do simple tasks. In addition, the State should have preferential tax policies; fees should also prioritize businesses that implement these policies well.

The proportion of middle-aged workers in Vietnam will continue to increase as our country passes the golden population period. Therefore, finding suitable solutions for this workforce needs to be calculated early to create a stable labor market and reduce the situation of one-time withdrawal of social insurance.

LAN ANH