VietNamNet Bridge - The latest labor bulletin shows that about 200,000 university graduates remained jobless, while businesses complain they cannot find enough workers to prepare for economic recovery. 

Trinh Thu Hang, 30, from Ha Giang province, has been looking for a job for eight years. 

Six years ago, she finished the Hung Yen Finance & Business Administration Junior College. Believing that a junior college degree was not good enough, Hang decided to continue studying at university. She finished Business & Technology University two years ago. But she still cannot find a job.

Nguyen Van Truyen, 22, from Hanoi, a graduate from the Hanoi University of Law, has applied for the post of legal assistant at many businesses in the last several months, but  has received no reply from employers. 

“I wish I can find a job with the monthly income of VND5-6 million,” he said. However, he feels pessimistic about job opportunities. “Two-thirds of my friends in the same class finished school at ‘distinction’ level, but only a few have found jobs,” he said. 

The latest labor bulletin shows that about 200,000 university graduates remained jobless, while businesses complain they cannot find enough workers to prepare for economic recovery.

Chu Trong Thu from the personnel division of Amaccao, who has 20 years of experience in the field, confirmed that many university graduates still cannot find jobs even though they were excellent students at schools.

“There are two important requirements set by employers: professional knowledge and soft skills. Meanwhile, most candidates don’t have both factors,” he said.

“They can only satisfy 70 percent of requirements in theoretical professional knowledge and 30 percent in practice,” he said. 

Nguyen Ngoc Trinh, director of the Thanh Nien Hanoi Job Service Center, believes that the problem lies in the curricula followed by universities and junior colleges. Students mostly receive theoretical knowledge, while they don’t have many practicing hours which can prepare them for future jobs.

Trinh agrees with Thu that weakness at soft skills and foreign language skills are the reasons that make it difficult for university graduates to find jobs.

At the Thanh Nien Hanoi Job Service Center, the workers with vocational training can more easily find jobs and jobs with higher pay than those with avbachelor’s degree.

Thu went on to say that businesses are always thirsty for workers because they cannot find candidates who can satisfy the requirements. Amaccao, for example, needs 80-100 new graduates every year, but it can only find half of this amount.

The company needs more workers this year to serve the production expansion plan. It plans to employ 400-500 workers for three of its factories in Ha Nam, Thai Nguyen and Hanoi.


Thanh Mai