Hearing about the expected lower Tet bonus this year, employees at many companies are trying to find extra work to earn some money for the holiday.

Employees at many companies are trying to find extra work to earn some money for the holiday

Nguyen Thi Hang, from Nam Dinh Province’s Y Yen District, who is working at a household goods company in Hanoi, said that so far this year, she has received only six-months of her salary. Her director promised to pay the rest by the end of the year along with a Tet bonus. However, the accountant said to her that the company’s staff members can only expect to get the three-month salary more and a very small Tet bonus.

Nguyen Thanh Huyen, from Hanoi’s Quoc Oai District, a worker at a garment company, worried that her Tet bonus this year would be the same as last year, when she and her colleagues were given 80 pairs of shorts. To date, the company still owes her three-month salary.

Disappointed at last-year Tet bonuses, along with pressure on Tet spending this year, many employees are seeking to find part-time jobs to cover the low bonuses. However, it is not easy to find jobs at this time.

Hong Lien in Ton Duc Thang Street, Hanoi, from a construction company said her firm has very little work, so she found a delivery job for another company.

Initially, she only intended to spend afternoons doing this extra work, but now the situation has changed. Due to the current urgent demand, she often has skip her main job.

One female employee at an electronic company in Hanoi, spent part of her time at the office selling cosmetics. She is constantly worrying about being found out by her manager when she leaves to get more product.

She says it is extremely tiring trying to hold down both jobs at the same time.

Tet bonuses for employees at Vietnamese enterprises are expected to be less than previous years due to the economic downturn, said Tong Thi Minh, head of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs' Labour and Salary Department.

Tet bonus will be divided into three groups, the highest bonuses will be in the hundreds of millions of VND; the second, for medium-level employees and the third group may get nothing, she added.