One day in early August, an unusual silence reigned over Alley 58 on Street 5 in Tan Tao District, Binh Tan, known as the 'rental housing center' in Ho Chi Minh City.

Many workers had to return the lodging to the homeowners after they were laid off.

Notices about rooms for rent were posted more densely accordingly.

However, in the eyes of the workers who stay, there are great concerns.

In recent months, their working hours have been cut and they have no chance to work overtime to earn more money.

Trying to make ends meet

Nguyen Thi Thao, 35, from the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, sits sadly on a row of stone chairs outside a room for rent and says that in all the 17 years she has been a worker, she has never received wages as low as they are at the moment.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of overtime hours she works has gradually reduced.

As an employee of PouYuen Company, a Nike and Adidas shoe supplier in Binh Tan District, Thao no longer has the opportunity to work extra hours. In addition, Fridays and Saturdays are now days off.

Although she is still employed, Thao is really worried about her eight-year-old child's school fees and other needs in light of the reduced and uncertain salary.

According to tenants who live nearby, there have been many going-away parties recently, as many workers have had to return their rooms after being laid off time and again.

In an effort to avoid returning to their hometowns, many unemployed workers have had to find alternative jobs, such as working on construction sites or as waiters in restaurants and the like.

Not only workers but also merchants and lottery sellers are struggling because they cannot sell as much as they used to. 

“In the past, the demand for rental housing here was so great that many people could not find a vacant room. But many sit empty now,” Thao says, looking at the row of rental rooms where she lives.

Thao shares the difficult living conditions with Tran Van Hoa, 55, who dwells in the same alley as her.

Hoa's workshop was closed on May 20, leaving more than 70 percent of the workers jobless, while the remaining 30 percent were transferred to another workshop, he said.

Hoa is still lucky to keep his job, but he can only work four days a week because the working hours have been cut.

“There is not even enough work for the workers during normal hours anymore, let alone asking them to work overtime,” Hoa said, adding that his wife, who works at the same company, has run into trouble as well.

The couple left the north-central province of Thanh Hoa for Ho Chi Minh City to find work when they were young.

After working for PouYuen Vietnam Company Limited for over 15 years, they spend all the rest of their salary after deducting living expenses on their three children’s education.

While about ten years ago, working as a laborer only made Hoa physically tired, now he also lives in worry and anxiety because he fears losing his job one day and cannot predict his total monthly income either.

US$4.2 to survive for a week

Living far from Hoa in Alley 44 on Bui Van Ba Street in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, 26-year-old Thuy Linh from the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang and her husband scrape a living.

Linh is employed by a firm that manufactures fans for export at Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in Tan Thuan Dong Ward, District 7. 

Since the beginning of July, she has been coming home from work every day around 5:00 pm since her company is lacking in new orders.

In past months, she worked overtime until 9:00 or 10:00 pm.

Linh is even luckier than her husband, who has been out of work since the beginning of the year and has not been able to earn enough income for himself.

He was rejected after applying for a job several times since then, as many companies have to downsize their staff.

He got a gig but had to quit it after two months as the employer recommended postponing payments, citing an 'extremely difficult situation.'

Linh is now the breadwinner of the family and bears all the financial burdens, including rent for the house, living expenses, and money sent to their hometown to raise their children.

The woman said if she works extra shifts, including Sundays, she can earn about VND11 million ($462) a month; otherwise, she receives the basic salary of VND5.5 million ($231) and a few hundred Vietnamese dong in allowances.

After paying the rent, she puts aside only VND1 million ($42) to cover all living expenses in one month.

She sends the rest of the earnings to her mother, who lives in her hometown and takes care of her children.

Next year, Linh’s oldest child will start preschool and she needs to prepare to pay for the child's tuition.

Last month, Linh and some other staff were transferred to work in a workshop in Long An Province, outside Ho Chi Minh City.

Thanks to her two hours of overtime every day, she was able to earn VND7.2 million ($302).

Unfortunately, she could only receive the basic salary together with a small allowance this month and had less than VND1 million for a month.

Linh said she can only spend VND100,000 ($4.2) a week at the moment.

“I still prepare meals at home to take to the workshop, but I choose cheaper food, reduce meat and fish, and eat less. I bought the rice variety whose price is VND11,000 [$0.46] per kilogram. Sometimes I ate instant noodles because I ran out of rice,” Linh said.

“I carry a small bag of tea to make water that I can drink throughout the day without having to buy the water outside. I do not eat snacks during the day either."

Data from the latest survey conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor showed that 2.2 percent of Vietnamese workers have never heard of buying formula milk for their children.

Linh is one of them.

Her husband is jobless and cannot earn money. Their second daughter has had to drink fresh milk since she was six months old, when Linh had to return to the workshop and could not continue breastfeeding her child.

Saving every penny

To have additional sources of income, Linh used to try to sell goods online. She had to give up the job because she could not survive in the online market with numerous sellers like her.

“I tried everything possible to make money, but it was extremely difficult to earn it,” Linh said.

Currently, she is trying to keep her job at the company, thinking that she is still lucky to have an income.

“I am waiting for October, when a workshop that makes calendars for the Lunar New Year vacation is expected to recruit staff for another part-time job. Then, after working at the workshop that makes fans till 5:00 pm, I'd continue working at the calendar place from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm,” she told of her plan.

“If I work four hours, I can earn VND100,000. So every month I'd make an additional VND3 million [$126], which would be truly helpful for me and my child."

In more challenging times, Hoa reminds his wife to save as much as possible to prepare for when their jobs may become more unstable.

“Rumor has it that another lay-off is due in September. For me, there's no point in worrying so much now so I'll try to work when I still have a job. When I'm unemployed, I'll return to my hometown to farm and raise cows,” Hoa added.

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