The textile and leather shoe industries are the two industries with the largest labor force in Vietnam. The textile industry employs about 2 million people, and the leather shoe industry employs about 1.4 million people. In addition, there are nearly 1.5 million workers. Ten thousand people are engaged in trade and business activities related to the textile and leather shoe industries. From April 2021 to the present, the COVID-19 epidemic in Vietnam has continued to change in complex ways. As a result, 28 provinces and cities have adopted varying degrees of isolation and blockade measures. Many textile and leather industry companies have suspended production or been forced to reduce their production scale, and a large number of company employees have lost their jobs.
A survey of 256 companies in the textile and leather shoe industries by the Vietnam Labor Relations Research Center shows that nearly 60% of workers have experienced a decrease in income due to intermittent work stoppages, and 62% of workers have experienced a decrease in income due to intermittent work stoppages. With continuous work stoppage and no source of income, 77% of workers have a negative mental state. The current lack of income and fear of the epidemic have caused employees in textile and leather shoes companies to be physically and mentally exhausted. Millions of workers have returned to their hometowns in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong Province, and Dong Nai Province. Vietnam’s textile and leather shoe industries, which are in the post-epidemic production recovery stage, may be affected by the epidemic. Labor shortage encounters shutdown crisis. </p
