State officials at the office of the District 3 People’s Committee in HCM City return to work on Thursday after the Tết holiday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — Many workers have returned to HCM City and Đồng Nai and Bình Dương provinces after enjoying a week-long Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, while some have used their annual leave to take off until the end of this week.

Most State offices, departments and agencies in HCM City resumed normal operation on the first day (January 30) after the Tết holiday ended.

Some businesses and supermarkets reopened on January 26 (the second day of the first lunar month) to serve customer demand, but were only open in the mornings.

A representative of Saigon Co.op said that all of its staff had returned to work on Thursday.

Lê Văn Minh, head of the trade union of the HCM City Power Corporation, said the corporation had assigned employees to work during the holiday to ensure a stable power supply in the city during Tết.

Meanwhile, some small- and medium-sized enterprises, shops and restaurants will not resume business until next Monday.

Trần Anh Tuấn, chairman of the trade union at the HCM City Export Processing Zone and Industrial Park and Authority (HEPZA), said the number of workers returning to work after Tết has reached about 15-20 per cent of the total.

Most companies at export processing zones and industrial parks will resume operations next week, he said.

Businesses have not faced labour shortages after the Tết holiday because they implemented preferential policies for their workers, he said.

According to the Labour Federation of the southern province of Đồng Nai, most enterprises in industrial zones have resumed operations.

Pouchen Việt Nam Enterprise Ltd based in Biên Hòa City and Pousung Việt Nam Co., Ltd in Trảng Bom District reopened on January 30. Eighty-seven per cent of their workers have returned.

The Phong Thái Group in Trảng Boom District has 50,000 workers, 98 per cent of whom returned to work on Thursday.

The rest were allowed to take more days off and will return to work early next Monday because their hometowns are far from the province.

Bình Dương Province’s Labour Federation estimated that the number of labourers returning to work in the province had reached 80 per cent as of Thursday.

Many businesses offered more days off for their employees whose hometowns are located in central and southern provinces. About 35 per cent of businesses reopened on Thursday. Others have a later working calendar, and are expected to begin next Monday

Many enterprises gave gifts or lucky money to employees who returned to work on time. — VNS