70 pct workers return to HCMC industrial hubs

Nearly 1,400 factories under Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) and in the hi-tech park of Thu Duc City have resumed operation, or 92 percent, according to Pham Thanh Truc, deputy head of HEPZA.

As factories have not resumed full operation, they are not mobilizing all their workers. The ratio will increase gradually, he said.

"Factories in industrial hubs are not majorly impacted by the fact that workers return to their hometowns."

This is because companies were still paying their employees with a portion of their salary and 750 companies still imposed onsite manufacturing. These measures kept workers committed to the company.

Before the pandemic, 17 industrial hubs in Ho Chi Minh City had over 320,000 workers in 1,500 factories.

A total 820 were closed due to social distancing as of Sep. 30, plunging 244,000 workers into unemployment.