VietNamNet Bridge - The 7.3 percent increase in the minimum wage increase for 2017 is the smallest increase in the last decade but businesses still do not like it. 

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. 

Going to university is no longer the only choice for Vietnamese high-school graduates. Thirty two percent of students don’t intend to continue at university.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many vocational schools have closed some training majors, and analysts say they may have to shut down entirely as they cannot find students.

MOET  has sent a statement to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, asking for the government’s permission to take on the management of vocational schools  under the control of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

VietNamNet Bridge - Many local vocational schools face closure as they cannot enroll enough students. The General Department of Vocational Training stated it will restructure the vocational school network to minimize waste.

VietNamNet Bridge - Exporting laborers must not be seen as a long term solution to the economy, experts have recommended.

VietNamNet Bridge - Ten years ago, experts warned about the oversupply of workers with bachelor’s degrees but their admonitions were ignored. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Low labor costs must not be considered Vietnam’s advantage to attract investment and develop economy in the new development period, experts say.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministries all admitted that the rate of unemployed university graduates is ‘abnormally high’, but none of them has taken responsibility for this.

New policies on compulsory social insurance, region-based minimum wages and multidimensional poverty standards are among those that will take effect in January 2016.

VietNamNet Bridge - Multibillions of dong have been pumped into vocational schools, but this has not helped prevent schools from sinking.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Prime Minister has approved a master plan to move from single-dimensional poverty measurement to a multidimensional approach.

VietNamNet Bridge - Though the unemployment rate has risen, enterprises complain they are finding it difficult to recruit workers, Nguyen Anh Tuan, head of the Vietnam Productivity Institute (VNPI), said after meeting recently with the local press.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the United Nations Population Funds published materials for educating sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention at vocational schools nationwide in Hanoi

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has replaced the single-dimensional approach to poverty with the multidimensional measurement method for 2016 – 2020 period, said an official.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Lured by high-paying jobs, many workers have been tricked into modern-day servitude. Some are even detained against their will, badly treated and, sometimes, even tortured.

 VietNamNet Bridge – In 2014, over 1.4 million households in Viet Nam were hit by poverty, accounting for 5.97% of the total, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has reported that 70 percent of businesses are unprofitable, but the General Department of Taxation (GDT) said it does not know where the figure comes from.

VietNamNet Bridge - Businesses say that a proposed minimum wage of 16 percent in 2016 will cause them to go bankrupt, and local products would not have export markets if workers are laid off.