Wholesale and retail is the sector hit the hardest by COVID-19 in the third quarter of 2021, according to a survey by the HCM City Centre of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information. (Photo: VNA)A survey by the FALMI of 11,502 local companies showsthat wholesale-retail and vehicle repair were the sectors hit the hardest bythe pandemic, accounting for 36.74 percent of the affected; followed bymanufacturing and processing, 16.42 percent.
Meanwhile, information and telecommunications was thesector least impacted by the pandemic, making up just 3.69 percent, the FALMIreported.
Some 42.7 percent of the respondents said they werestruggling in seeking customers and distributing their products; 27.15 percentfound it challenging to access funding; 18.23 percent believed the provision ofsupport policies were not timely enough; and 11.92 percent said they facedshortage of input materials.
The FALMI also reported that among more than 251,000workers surveyed, 51.62 percent have been hurt by the pandemic. Of theaffected, 48.18 percent said they had their working hours reduced; 32.21percent lost jobs; 8.2 percent had their contract suspended; 7.45 percent took partly paid leave; and 3.96 percent took unpaid leave.
Over 39 percent of asked enterprises said they plan tocut their head count during the final months of this year.
The worst-ever COVID-19 resurgence forced HCM City to imposesocial distancing restrictions under Directive 16 in early July, causing localfirms to suspend operation or scale down production, according to FALMI DeputyDirector Phan Ky Quan Triet./.
VNA
