VietNamNet Bridge - The number of 200,000 unemployed workers with higher education level, as reported by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), is considered high if compared with the number of university graduates every year.

There are 200,000 unemployed bachelor's degree graduates

According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), there are 1.1 million university and junior college students, with 300,000 graduates each year.

Since 2015, the number of unemployed  bachelor’s degree graduates has been stable at 200,000. The labor market receives 100,000 bachelor’s degree graduates a year.

Unemployed workers’ means individuals aged 15 and higher who have working capability and demand, and are looking for jobs, but have not found them.

One report shows that up to 60 percent of university graduates take jobs unrelated to their major. If so, only 15 percent of graduates can get jobs in their major. 

The high unemployment rate shows a big waste of resources. If noting that the average expense of every student, not including state funding, is VND50 million year (tuition and daily expenses), families’ total waste would be up to VND13 trillion a year.

The waste would be even be bigger if counting the opportunity cost. If the unemployed university graduates, instead of studying at university, had gone to vocational schools and had taken jobs after finishing, they would have created total income of VND21 trillion a year (average income of VND7 million a month). This would be VND130 trillion for a four-year circle.

The waste would be even be bigger if counting the opportunity cost. If the unemployed university graduates, instead of studying at university, had gone to vocational schools and had taken jobs after finishing, they would have created total income of VND21 trillion a year (average income of VND7 million a month). This would be VND130 trillion for a four-year circle.

Analysts pointed out that the unemployment among youth has bigger negative impact than unemployment among workers of other ages. The tardiness of the youth in joining the labor market also puts pressure on the social insurance fund.

To settle the problem, encouraging high school graduates to go to vocational schools is the most promising solution.

Experts suggest following the occupational model in Switzerland, Germany, Singapore and France. When finishing secondary school, students have two choices – either go to vocational school or high school. 

At the age of 16, two-thirds of Swiss students choose to go to vocational school. Asian countries have realized the effectiveness of the model and expressed their willingness to learn from  Switzerland’s model. 

However, Asians want to have higher education and prefer white-collar jobs. However, they are changing their mind as there are jobs which do not require higher education but can bring good income.

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