According to the news site “Rest of World”, in recent years, large international electronics companies such as Samsung, Apple and others have employed thousands of workers in Vietnam’s factories, but with the decline in global electronics demand and the difficulties in the procurement of parts, this production boom seems to have become the past. It is that about 45,000 electronic industry workers have been unemployed in Vietnam, while still working workers also face reductions in working hours and wages.
A year ago, the villages in northern Vietnam were very busy, and there was a flood of companies that produced parts for Apple and Google to compete for labor. Now, however, the villages in the area have calmed down. The large factory operated by Samsung has significantly reduced production, and employees may only work one day a week. The factory-produced smart phone and Apple headset assembly workers' dormitories are now only half of the population.
This decline in technology manufacturing in Vietnam is mainly due to the decline in global demand for electronics and the difficulty of purchasing components. With the New Corona epidemic peak past, European and American consumers have reduced the purchase of new phones and TVs; the arrival of inflation has made them tighten the trousers. New orders and output from large electronics companies have fallen to the lowest level since mid-2020. This is not limited to a country or region, but is reflected globally.
The impact of this change is profound in Vietnam. Vietnam is a major global base for electronics manufacturing, and the electronics industry is its main employment direction. Among them, Samsung has employed about 100,000 workers in Vietnam, helping Vietnam to become the world’s second largest smartphone exporter in 2021, after China alone. However, with global electronics demand declining, Vietnam’s technology manufacturing industry is experiencing an unprecedented crisis.
In Vietnam, a large number of manufacturing jobs are provided by international brands through outsourcing, such as Apple and Samsung. This makes Vietnam an important position in the global supply chain, but also makes it highly dependent on the global market.
For most unemployed workers, they face not only unemployment, but also problems with livelihoods.In Vietnam, the average salary of electronic manufacturing workers is about $300 a month.While this doesn't seem a lot in Western countries, in Vietnam, it's already enough to support a family's basic life.Therefore, unemployment means life difficulties for them.
The government has launched a new employment aid program that provides vocational training and employment consulting services.In addition, the government is pushing for a new regulation aimed at encouraging domestic companies to raise workers’ salaries to increase productivity and reduce dependence on external markets.
While these measures may not solve all of the problems in the short term, they provide at least a line of hope for electronic manufacturing workers in Vietnam.In the future, as the global electronics market changes, Vietnam needs to find a way to stabilize its position in the global supply chain to reduce the impact of global market changes on its job market.
In this context, the path of the future is full of uncertainty for Vietnam and its electronics manufacturing workers, however, this uncertainty will prompt Vietnam to find a new balance, allowing it to gain a new position in the global electronics market.