Hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority workers have received vocational training, career counseling and job placement support. But unless someone follows up with trainees through the 12th month, training risks ending with a certificate rather than translating into sustainable jobs and incomes.

A vocational qualification is only the starting point

When Kso Y Hiec, an Ede girl born in 2007 in Dak Lak, received her intermediate-level vocational qualification in e-commerce, she had learned how to write promotional content and shoot and edit videos.

For Y Hiec, vocational training is a way to enter the labor market with greater confidence. Her family faces financial hardship, and she has four younger siblings. She therefore plans to start working immediately after her high school graduation exam and consider further study later, once her circumstances allow.

In the same program, Truong Thi Diem, a member of the Nung ethnic group, chose tourism guiding. Diem studied both the regular academic curriculum and vocational subjects while gaining practical experience at tourism companies inside and outside the province. The experience gave her a much clearer picture of the job than classroom theory alone could provide.

Y Hiec needs to start earning quickly because of her family circumstances, while Diem is already close to entering the workforce. But their qualifications cannot answer the questions that matter next: Three months later, will they have jobs related to their training? Six months later, will they still be in those jobs? By the 12th month, how much will they be earning?

According to a presentation by the Policy Department under the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs at the scientific workshop “Tasks and solutions for job creation, service development and sustainable labor connectivity in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for 2026-2035,” Subproject 3 of Project 5 under the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, known as National Target Program 1719, implemented 2,354 models and provided training support to 238,958 ethnic minority workers between 2021 and 2025. A total of 140,024 people received career counseling and job placement support, of whom 19,136 secured employment contracts.

The figures demonstrate the scale of the support provided, but they do not reveal how many of those jobs lasted for a year. The 2024 survey covering Vietnam’s 53 ethnic minority groups found that only around 14.6% of ethnic minority workers had received formal training resulting in qualifications or certificates, while access to formal employment and insurance remained limited.

Under National Target Program 1719, Nghe An provided vocational training support to 8,981 ethnic minority workers and counseling and training to more than 30,000 participants. By the end of 2024, 51.5% of working-age people had received appropriate vocational training, exceeding the target.

Yet in Huu Kiem Commune, Nghe An Province, Chairman of the commune People’s Committee Nguyen Van Long said some workers still “do not know what to do” even after completing vocational training. There are no factories or processing facilities in the area, while local rattan and bamboo weaving has limited market outlets and is unsuitable for most young workers.

Long’s observation highlights a paradox: people may have finished learning a trade, but if there is nowhere near home to put those skills to use, many still have little choice but to leave their communities in search of work elsewhere.

Without businesses, cooperatives or markets for their products, newly acquired skills are unlikely to translate into employment. Job opportunities and market demand therefore need to be identified before a training course even begins.

In Lai Chau, meanwhile, 25.92% of workers had obtained formal qualifications or certificates by the end of 2025. Deo Van Thuong, Director of the Lai Chau provincial Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, said the province has no industrial parks and most local businesses are small. The province has proposed linking vocational training more closely with community-based tourism, agricultural processing, medicinal herbs and recruitment demand from employers outside the province.

Who is accountable at month 12?

According to a presentation by the National Office for Ethnic and Mountainous Areas at the scientific workshop “Tasks and solutions for job creation, service development and sustainable labor connectivity in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for 2026-2035,” coordination among the three key stakeholders should be organized as a closed-loop process: identify demand; have businesses and cooperatives confirm jobs or market outlets; provide training linked with practical experience; then move into recruitment, livelihood support and follow-up assessments after three, six and 12 months.