Many people in HCM City are seeking new position when their company is facing with financial difficulties.

HA NOI – The growing number of bankrupt enterprises has led to many chief accountants being thrown out of their jobs in Viet Nam.

Some facing financial difficulties have even lowered their salary level to try and get work.

Nguyen Kieu Linh told online VnExpress news network that she worked for a trade and service company in HCM City as a chief accountant for more than four years.

Recently the company told staff about its financial difficulties, so many began seeking new positions.

Linh, who has been unemployed for three months, said she has sent dozens of job applications to companies in the city offering to cut her salary by 30 per cent. To date, she has received no feedback.

The National Financial Supervisory Commission recently produced an economic report showing that as many as 16,600 enterprises had stopped operations because business had come to a standstill in the first four months of the year.

The number was 16.9 per cent higher than for the same period last year.

Accounting was considered a "hot" job only a few years ago. Figures from the HCM City Centre for Human Resources Forecasting and Labour Market Information reveal that the number of accountants and auditors seeking jobs was the highest of any profession.

At present, more than 4,200 are seeking work but there are only 1,700 positions.

Nguyen Hong, former chief accountant for a shipping company once earned VND30 million (nearly US$1,500) a month, but he has not found work since leaving the company in March. He is doing accounts for several companies to pay the bills. "It's really difficult to find a company which pays as highly as my old company", he said.

The city Centre's deputy director, Tran Anh Tuan, suggested that it would be easy for chief accountants to find jobs if they sought positions in at lower paying small and medium enterprises. - VNS