Many garment and textile firms in Ho Chi Minh City have closed down lately due to lack of work contracts, thereby rendering many workers jobless. It has sent shock waves among the garment workers, especially with the Tết (Vietnamese New Year) holidays not too far, media reports claim.
No work contracts, old age and increased automation have been some of the several causes of workers going jobless.
Shing Viet Company, a garment manufacturer, intends to terminate all its job contracts with 400 garment workers employed at Factory 2, Truong Tho ward in the district of Thu Duc. The ongoing struggle to get any orders has forced the garment manufacturing company to take such a step.
Similarly, K Garment Company, located at Linh Trung 1 Export Processing Zone, has also removed 800 workers from their jobs as most of these workers are old. Sadly, their probability of finding new jobs is very less.
Another firm in the city, Fenix Knitting Vietnam, has reportedly decided to shut down its unit due to bankruptcy, thereby bringing its 220 workers on the verge of being unemployed.
Many companies, of late, have been adopting equipped robots and advanced machines to replace humans. One of the representatives of garment firm Sakos JSC said that while a robot can substitute around 30 workers across three shifts, an automatic thread cutting machine easily replaces 4-10 workers in each shift. There couldn’t be more sad state of affairs for workers.
Despite providing opportunities, Industry 4.0 is coming up with its own challenges. Several establishments like Saigon 3 Garment Company plan to recruit more than 700 workers but prefer only those who are skilled to operate the automated machines.
Reportedly, 86 per cent of Vietnamese workers across textile, garment and footwear sectors are expected to be severely impacted by automation and industrialisation.
