Forty weeks out of work

Losing a job at the age of 40 is no longer a strange thing. This is the opinion of a 40-year-old worker in Tu Ky district when I met her coming to learn about the procedures for receiving unemployment benefits at the Hai Duong Center for Employment Services - Vocational Education. It is not strange because there were nearly ten other people who came to learn about the procedures for receiving unemployment benefits with her, also around the age of 40.

Through analysis and evaluation of the monthly unemployment situation of the Hai Duong Center for Employment Services - Vocational Education, we can easily see that the rate of unemployed workers over the age of 35 always accounts for more than half of the number of people applying for unemployment benefits each month, most of whom are female workers.

Young people who lose their jobs still have many opportunities to find work, a few months of rest waiting to find a new job is not a concern. Young workers who do not have their own families can still rely on their parents and relatives. But for workers who have entered middle age, losing their jobs at this time is a very difficult time. Having devoted their entire youth, losing their jobs at middle age makes many people feel lost, it is difficult when they are no longer young and finding a new job is not easy, while the burden of "bread and butter" for the family is still there.

Why is it easy to lose your job in middle age? From the employer's perspective, hiring middle-aged workers is not as beneficial as hiring young workers because their productivity is not as high. Businesses also have to pay more seniority and implement more welfare policies than young workers. For middle-aged workers themselves, working too long also causes increasing inertia, fear of change, slow adaptation...

Hai Duong is gradually entering the aging population phase. Like many localities in the country, Hai Duong should soon have a plan to adapt to this reality.

In a recent working session with leaders of Hai Duong province, Mr. Kamada Atsushi, Chairman of Sakura Jigyo Union (Japan) shared the fact that 65-year-old workers in this country are still respected and have good jobs. A survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development of this country in 2023 showed that up to 52% of the population aged 65-69 in Japan participated in the labor market. Companies in Japan are also required to recruit employees up to 65 years old. The rate of Japanese elderly people successfully finding jobs is 21%... While in Vietnam, 40-year-olds are considered old by many businesses and are not recruited.

The story of people who have not reached retirement age but have already reached their working age is a reality today, requiring the labor sector to quickly find solutions to consider the long-term future of the labor market. First of all, it is necessary to effectively implement the vocational training support program for unemployed workers. Vocational training must be linked to real needs and suitable for middle-aged workers. If trained properly and in the right direction, when businesses need middle-aged workers, there will still be opportunities. Middle-aged workers themselves also need to overcome their "shadow". Being old does not mean being slow to change, afraid to adapt to technology, to new working styles. Changing yourself is also a way to create a solid position and foothold in the business, without having to worry about being fired.

Many craft villages in Hai Duong are also a shelter for many middle-aged workers. There is not much technology or complicated production lines, so establishments in craft villages can easily accept older workers. Enterprises can allocate and mobilize workers over 40 years old to do simple steps. In the long term, the State needs to have preferential policies on taxes and fees and have a priority regime specifically for enterprises that effectively implement policies to create jobs for older workers.