VietNamNet Bridge – About 25-30% of the 10,000 unemployment beneficiaries in Hanoi are university graduates and post-graduates.

A job fair in Hanoi.

According to the Hanoi Office of Unemployment Insurance, the number of people registered for unemployment benefits in May rose to 2,900. This figure is over 500 higher than in April and about 1,000 more than in January, February and March. The total of workers registered for unemployment benefits in the city in January-May period is over 11,000.

Director of the Hanoi Employment Center, Nguyen Toan Phong, says that compared to the corresponding period of 2013, the number of workers registered for unemployment benefits increased by nearly 8% and the number of workers who enjoyed the benefits rose by 24 percent. Unemployment insurance is really a "lifebuoy" for unemployed workers, Phong asserted.

An official from the unemployment insurance office says that so far this year, the city paid unemployment benefits worth VND141 billion ($6.7 million) to over 10,000 of the nearly 11,000 applicants. Notably, the number of unemployment beneficiaries with university and postgraduate degrees accounted for 25 to 30%.

On a national scale, data from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the General Statistics Office released in March showed that in 2013, 455,000 of the 476,000 total applicants were granted unemployment benefits.

Trained workers accounted for a very high share of the unemployment rate, with 8,000 people holding vocational training degrees, over 19,000 people with the college degrees, and 72,000 people who have university and post-university degrees.

At the opening meeting of the ongoing National Assembly session, which began last week, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, asked the government to consider the number of 72,000 unemployed university graduates and post-graduates.   

Le Ha