VietNamNet Bridge – A mathematics master works as a simcard seller, a business administration bachelor works as home maid, or a pedagogical school graduate works as a waiter at a café. The Vietnamese high qualification labor force has become so cheap.

Mr Tran Phi Phung shows his daughter's university degree

Do Thi Trang from Thanh Hoa province once nurtured the hope of becoming a good journalist 3 years ago, when she finished the journalism academy. However, her hope has been dashed. It’s more difficult than she thought to obtain a job in the capital city.

“I have taken so many jobs over the last 3 years. I was a waitress at a café, restaurant and beer shop. I delivered ad leaflets on the streets. And finally, I decided to return to the home village to help the mother run my family’s grocery, because I could not find a job which could bring the income high enough to afford the life in Hanoi,” she said.

Thanh Hoa province has been famous in the country as a land where people are eager for learning. Meanwhile, a report of the local authorities showed that 25,000 university graduates have been unemployed.

Tran Thi Hoa, a law bachelor from Quang Nam province feels disappointed when her job applications have been refused by all the agencies she contacted.

“Courts and law offices tend to be very cautious when recruiting new officers. Therefore, there has been no opportunity for the new graduates like me,” Hoa said.

Hoa now works as a seafood processing worker for a company from which she receives VND70,000 a day, enough for 3 meals.

In the southern province of An Giang, a lot of farmer families had to sell land and borrow money to fund their children’s university study. However, their children, who are now bachelors, still cannot find jobs, therefore, they cannot pay the debts.

Tran Phi Hung, a farmer in An Giang province, said he borrowed money, mortgaging 7,000 square meters of rice field to the lender, to fund the university study of his daughter Tran Thi My Hanh.

However, the girl, after finishing the business administration of a well-known school in HCM City, remains unemployed over the last two years. Meanwhile, Hung needs money to bring his wife to hospital to treat her disease.

Nguyen Kim Tien, who finished the Dong Thap University, met the reporters at a café in Long Xuyen City, where he worked as a waiter.

Tien said he once worked for a shoes company, but he later was laid off because he could not meet the requirements in production shifts.

“I still don’t know what I should do to get money to pay bank debts. If I cannot pay debts within 3 years, I will have to bear the high interest rate of 120 percent,” Tien said.

Even the excellent graduates also cannot find jobs at this moment. Le Huy V, who won the consolation prize at the national math Olympiad, has a master degree, still cannot find a job. V has been taking every job he can to earn his living, from tutoring to simcard selling.

Tran Lien, also a master, said that since she cannot find a job, she decided to stay at home and do house works.

In fact, Lien once could not find a job when she graduated university. She decided to kill the time by studying further to obtain master degree. However, even after getting the master degree, nothing has been improved. She decided to get married and now takes care for the newly born child.

NLD