The stressful anticipation of Tet bonuses

I try to see things from both sides, and hope each is willing to put themselves in the other's shoes and meet each other halfway.

A recent incident caught my eye when a director of a footwear business in HCMC mulled a tough decision for nearly a month and did not dare announce his company's Tet bonus this year.

It will be 10% less than last year, and he was afraid of the workers' reactions.

The bonus was not decided by him alone though. It was the result of many discussions and debates between the company’s executives and the representatives of its labor union.

The executives had argued that the business has been as bad as in 2021, when HCMC was hit by three months of Covid lockdown. The labor union was concerned about the workers’ disappointment, which would drive them to quit.

Certainly, the workers have a general idea of the company’s situation, but they tend to believe that every business has a back-up fund they can use in difficult times.

The company’s executives meanwhile are reluctant to use such a fund as they cannot be sure how long the tough times will last.

The two sides then agreed that a 10% reduction from last year would be appropriate, and demonstrate the company’s care for its workers, given that the industry’s export revenue dropped by 15%.

The Tet bonus is not required by law, but it is given by most companies for the country’s biggest holiday as a way to boost morale, and the amount often depends on a company’s business results during the year.

Migrant laborers wait at a bus station to leave HCMC for their hometown for Tet, Jan. 22, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Many businesses have been reluctant about announcing their bonus this year. HCMC’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs gave businesses the Dec. 25 deadline to announce their bonus, but many missed it.

Across the country, 62 cities and provinces (except for Quang Tri) have announced their rates by Dec. 29.

There is likely much consideration by the business leaders behind announcements. On the other side is hope, no matter how faint, from the workers.

A lot of people are in extremely difficult situations, and it's hard to know if your average factory boss truly gets it.

I took a motorbike taxi ride on Christmas' Eve and learned the driver works at a footwear factory during the day and hustles for taxi fares at night. Half his colleagues do the same.

He earns VND10 million (US$412) from the factory after 16 years of experience. His wife works in the same company for VND6 million a month, and their two children live in their hometowns with their grandparents.

He said he and his wife learned to be even more thrifty after Covid, so they do not have to borrow extra money for living, although they cannot save anything.

He said life would be more manageable if there were no Tet, as he would not have to buy train tickets home, buy gifts for the parents or new clothes for their children. He depends on the Tet bonus for all his holiday expenses.

"We've been waiting since the start of December," he said.

"I know it would be less (than last year), I don't hope for more. But I need to know how much I will get so I can plan my expenses."

He said he believed that no matter how hard the situation is, "our boss will not abandon us."

As we reached my destination near he Notre Dame Cathedral, crowds took photos with sparkling decorations and Santa Claus. And he told me that he too had a Christmas wish.

"I wish the world stops fighting, the economy recovers, the company's orders are back, and I have full salary," he said. "Footwear companies like mine did not care about the world affairs before, but for a couple years the bosses have kept talking about it, and I now understand that some war far away is able to make me poor and hungry."

With reduced income after a difficult year, many people pin high hopes on a decent Tet bonus. Factory owners and bosses would do well to keep this in mind.

*Le Tuyet is a journalist.