Losing Tet bonus, some are optimistic, others are depressed

Going to work, everyone wants to get a bonus to have a warmer Tet after a year of hard work. The amount of money depends on many factors, both the company and the employee.

Salaried workers often only look forward to year-end bonuses to have a warm Tet - Photo: BE HIEU

However, the 2024 economy is generally not very optimistic, causing many businesses to still struggle to pay Tet bonuses, and many places have even announced that there will be no bonuses. Those who received the news were shocked, others felt disappointed, and some even immediately wrote a resignation letter.

Broken spending plan

Mr. Lam Hoang Duc (name changed) said he moved to a new job about three months ago, in charge of recruiting human resources at a private educational institution in Ho Chi Minh City. About a month before Tet, the company announced that this year, business was difficult, so there would be no Tet bonus.

Recently, he received a bonus of 200,000 VND for Lunar New Year, but Duc said he had just started working, and now even if he received the news that there would be no Lunar New Year bonus, he still could not quit. Because when he decided to quit his job and change workplaces near the end of the year, he had determined that he would have to accept the worst-case scenario of losing his Lunar New Year bonus, but "I do not regret making that decision."

Meanwhile, Mr. Le Minh Tung (in Dong Da district, Hanoi ) - a marketing staff of a furniture company - said he was quite disappointed when he received an email from the company informing him that they would not be able to pay Lunar New Year bonuses like every year. Instead, each employee will receive a small gift and a thank you for accompanying the company through this challenging period.

Tung said he had vaguely guessed this since around the middle of the year. The business situation was not very positive when there were not many new orders due to the impact of the economic recession, customers cut down on spending.

"But I was really shocked because I didn't get any Tet bonus. While there were so many things to spend on, and I hadn't been working for long, I didn't have any savings, and I was in no mood to celebrate Tet anymore," the 26-year-old man said sadly.

Although everyone at the company encouraged and comforted each other that the most important thing was still having a stable job, Tung said he could not hide his anxiety because almost everyone was waiting for their year-end bonus, so the working atmosphere these days became heavier.

Quit job and start your own business

Tung's story is almost the common denominator of many young people today who are not used to facing instability in their jobs and have not adapted to unexpected challenges. Because most of them do not have financial reserves, when there is no bonus, everyone is confused and struggles to calculate and calculate their expenses.

Tung is wondering whether he should continue working after Tet or find a new job. Meanwhile, female bank employee Ngoc Thao (28 years old, living in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) recently submitted her resignation. Normally, the bank's Tet bonus is based on the work performance of each individual and the business results of that branch.

But in the middle of the third quarter, the branch where Thao worked announced that the Tet bonus would be based on bancassurance sales (insurance distribution through banks). Meanwhile, Thao did not sell any insurance contracts all year, so she did not meet the target despite working very hard.

"The bank is not profitable either, so I know I lost my bonus. Last year, I got 500,000 VND for New Year's Eve, but this year I don't have any money," Thao said.

Deciding to quit her job at the bank, Thao plans to use her savings as capital to start a business selling snacks online or takeaway coffee. "I want to start my own business, be my own boss, and not fall into the situation of working hard all year, going to work early and coming home late, then waiting anxiously at the end of the year and finally having to accept not receiving any Tet bonus," Thao confided.

Sympathize with the company if there is no Tet bonus

Working as an editor at an advertising company, Nguyen Kim Thy (in Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City) said that the Tet bonus in the past few years was calculated based on salary, usually receiving two months' salary each year. During the New Year, she would receive an additional 500,000 - 1 million VND.

Thy said that in the past two years, despite economic difficulties, the company still tried to give Tet bonuses. However, this year, up to now, the Lunar New Year bonus has been cut. There has been no announcement yet, but I heard that it will probably only be the 13th month salary. In fact, Thy's salary in the past year has also been reduced somewhat.

She also "revealed" that she has some savings in case she doesn't get a bonus, which she will use to give lucky money to her parents, buy gifts for relatives, and go out during Tet. Although it is almost certain that the Tet bonus will be reduced by a month, and the amount received will also be reduced, Kim Thy said she still feels lucky and grateful that the company is making efforts to make sure that her colleagues still get bonuses.

"In general, if I get a bonus, I'm happy, but if I don't, I'm mentally prepared. Luckily, I still have a bonus and a job to do, but my friend just lost his job due to staff cuts. It's not easy to find a job at this time, so I have to work temporarily and wait until after Tet to decide what to do next," Thy confided.

First time receiving Tet bonus

While many people were sad, there were also quite a few other young people who said that this was the first year they received a Tet bonus so they "felt excited". Thuy Linh (worker at Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, Ho Chi Minh City) boasted that this Tet she received a bonus of 4 million VND plus a fixed salary of 5.3 million VND.

For many people, that amount of money may not be much, but for Linh, if she spends it all, she can buy some gifts for her daughter in the countryside to make Tet happy. "Last month and the month right before Tet, I worked overtime so I earned a little more money. And if anyone needs it, the company will advance 50% of their salary to celebrate Tet," the 27-year-old mother said excitedly.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mat-thuong-tet-nguoi-lac-quan-ke-chan-chuong-20250105101310883.htm