Workers participate in flexible employment: Work today, tomorrow's risks

"Many" workers

Mr. Dao Van Duc (from Kiet Son commune, Phu Tho province) used to work as a class coordinator for an English center in Ha Dong ward (Hanoi). After more than 2 years of working, in August 2025, Mr. Duc quit his job because of his low salary, working mainly at night, affecting his health.

Immediately, Mr. Duc registered as a technology driver. In September 2025, the income from the new job was twice as high as the old job, making Mr. Duc feel very "enthusiastic" and satisfied with his choice. However, the joy did not last long...

In early November 2025, while transporting a passenger to a distant province, Mr. Duc returned at night. During the sleepwalk, he fell off the road, suffered a soft tissue injury and broke his right hand; the front and side of the vehicle were damaged.

"I was worried about a part of the money for car repair and hospital stay for 13 days without any health insurance. The money saved after a few months of working was only enough to cover part of my expenses, I had to call home to ask my parents to borrow more money from relatives to have money for treatment. After being discharged from the hospital, I owed more than 50 million VND, Mr. Duc said in frustration.

Mr. Vu Quang Thanh - Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center said that the actual recognition of the connection of labor supply and demand in Hanoi shows that the group of workers participating in flexible employment, workers in the informal sector are the "many no" group: No labor contracts, no social insurance, no unemployment insurance. Therefore, this group of workers is facing many long-term risks.

Most workers work through digital platforms or freely without labor contracts, and their income depends entirely on working hours and market fluctuations. When sick, have an accident or change policies, workers have almost no protection mechanism... Many people accept leaving their official job - where they have insurance - in exchange for flexible income in the short term, without fully anticipating the long-term consequences," said Mr. Vu Quang Thanh.

3 major risks

Commenting on the risks that flexible workers face, Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Employment said that the biggest risk for flexible workers is occupational accidents, especially for technology drivers and delivery groups. When an accident occurs, workers often have to pay for treatment costs themselves, losing income during their leave.

Without occupational accident insurance, without unemployment benefits, many workers fall into difficulties after just a small incident. This is a negative side that is rarely mentioned when talking about the " releasedness" of flexible work," said Mr. Trung.

According to Mr. Trung, this group of workers also faces future security risks because not participating in social insurance for a long time will put workers at great risk when they are old (no pensions, no subsidies). Not to mention, if the flexible labor trend continues to expand without coverage policies, the social security system will be under great pressure in the medium and long term.

Finally, flexible workers are in the "grey zone" between formal and informal workers. The legal framework has not kept up with the actual development of the market, causing many difficulties in protecting workers' rights. "It is advisable that workers should continue to self-medulate in a risky market, while businesses and platforms benefit from this flexible model," Mr. Trung asked.

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