As per the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) garment and textile firms in the country are unable to complete export orders due to severe labor shortages and broken supply chains. Many workers in South Vietnam migrated to their hometowns as the fourth and most intense COVID-19 wave caused many textile companies to close or operate at partial capacity between July and September. Around one million workers in the sector, quit their jobs or stayed away from work with or without pay, says VITAS.

Supply chains continue to be broken as most foreign clients shifted their orders to other countries. Many companies in the regions adopted the stay-at-work and commute-to-work models, but they could only get 10-30 percent of their employees back to work. This resulted in garment and textile exports falling by 9 percent month-on-month in September to $3 billion. This year, VITAS expects exports to reach $33.5-34 billion if the pandemic continues until early December, $36-36.5 billion if until November and $37.5-38 billion if it is controlled by October.