In the wake of Samsung’s global discontinuation of its explosive Note 7 model, workers at the South Korean tech giant’s factories in northern Vietnam will be glad to find out the firm is not planning to lay anyone off.
According to an official statement released by the company last Wednesday, reports Reuters, the electronic company assured workers that the global crisis will not result in any layoffs this year and even predicted that its export value will grow from last year’s US$32.7 billion.
"The Note 7 incident may not bring about any significant impact on our exports in 2016; in fact this year's exports turnover is expected to increase," the statement reads.
Nguyen Mai, president of Vietnam's Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, agreed with Samsung’s claim, and shared with the news source that the value of exports from the company’s manufacturing facilities in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh could reach up to US$34.7 billion this year, accounting for approximately a fifth of Vietnam’s total exports.
While Samsung total exports might get by unscathed, the country's exports are likely to fall by 0.5% to 1% this year due to the Note 7 recall, Mai added. According to the statistics office, in September alone, the crisis led to a US$1.1 billion decline in overall exports.
"It's another blow," Alan Pham, VinaCapital Group’s chief economist, told Chicago Tribune. "This is the risk of putting all your bets on one company or industry. But that is the natural progression of a developing country: it starts by exporting commodities then turns to manufactured products, industrial products."
Even before Samsung’s official statement last Wednesday, most of its employees in Vietnam’s northern provinces were upbeat about their job prospects in the company. Samsung currently employs some 130,000 locals in its plants in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh. The South Korean brand’s exports are so massive that it has even requested a separate cargo terminal at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport.
"Recalling [the Note 7] doesn't mean we are unemployed or such; Samsung also makes many other phones and new models, not just the Note 7," Nguyen Thi Hang, a Samsung employee, told Tuoi Tre.
Hang and her peers receive a monthly salary of around US$180, and could stand to earn up to US$300 if they work overtime, a substantial amount compared with the average income in their hometowns.
“Some overtime work options were reduced due to the Note 7 recall,” Nguyen Van Doai, a 27-year-old employee, shared with Tuoi Tre. However, he hadn't heard of any job cuts. "Samsung hasn't reached a level where they have to cut jobs because they are still hiring many people and constructing more buildings," he told the news source.
[Photo via Updato]
