VietNamNet Bridge – The total number of unemployed people in HCM City is expected to remain steady at about 150,000 throughout 2013, according to the City Centre for Job Placement.

Staff at city centres for unemployment-insurance registration said many people who had lost their jobs had been visiting the centres to seek jobless benefits.

According to the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, 79 enterprises in the zones last year curtailed production or shut down operations, leading to the lay-off of about 400 workers.

These centres report that around 142,000 people registered for unemployment benefits in 2012.

Of that figure, more than 116,400 people qualified for unemployment benefits that were valued at a total of more than VND1.1 trillion (US$52.4 million).

In neighbouring Binh Duong Province, more than 48,300 people were unemployed last year. They received total jobless benefits of VND313 billion ($14.9 million).

According to the province's social insurance agency, the number of people out of work jumped last year.

At least 29,000 jobless people in Binh Duong were given monthly unemployment benefits in 2010, while the figure increased to 40,000 in 2011.

The province's agency said it was worried about the sustainability of the unemployment fund.

The fund is also facing the problem of several companies taking advantage of loopholes in the laws on unemployment insurance.

Last year, for example, the agency's inspectors discovered two companies that had created 50 fake records for laid-off workers, according to Nguyen Phung Trung, deputy head of the province's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

A few companies have even colluded with their employees by doubling their salaries and then laying them off so they could qualify for a higher level of jobless benefits.

Source: VNS