81 percent of workers want less working hours

By Dang Khoa September 10, 2019 | 10:40 pm PT

Female employees at a garment factory in Hanoi. Photo by AFP.

81 percent of respondents in an online survey by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) voted to cut working hours from 48 to 44 hours per week.

Around 1,300 workers had voted as of 3 p.m. Tuesday in a survey on "Reducing working hours: yes or no?" that was opened by VGCL around 11 a.m. Monday. Just 19 percent chose to keep the current working hours of 48 hours per week or working six days per week.

Most of the respondents wanted five and a half days of work at the most and one and half days off per week.

The survey was carried out following the labor federation's proposal to give workers an additional day off on December 31 this year, since Vietnamese workers have among the longest working weeks in the world and lowest number of public holidays among neighboring countries.

The survey is still open online for people to vote on. It will end in five days.