Vietnam graduates working menial jobs

Dao Thanh Chien, a university graduate from central Thanh Hoa Province, earns a monthly average of VND8mil (RM1,553) selling ice tea and driving a motorbike taxi, not from working as a public official as he wished after graduating from the university.

Chien, like many other graduates, had to give up his dream of joining the State payroll after spending five years seeking jobs suitable for his university training.

“I had to try to work temporary jobs for a long time while waiting for a suitable job.

“The temporary jobs range from security guard to marketing to driving a motorbike taxi and selling ice tea,” he told Nong thon Ngay nay (“Countryside Today”) newspaper.

There are months Chien can earn up to VND15mil (RM2911), an amount considered a dream for many public officials.

Chien is among more than one million unemployed people of working age in the country.

Around 200,000 university graduates are forecast to be unemployed this year, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

An estimated over 100,000 university graduates are working simple jobs which require no degrees.

Nguyen Van Don, an admin of Grabbike Hanoi, told the newspaper that most of their drivers were students and unemployed graduates.

Graduates who could not find jobs account for one third of his groups staff.

Usually, full-time drivers earn between VND12-15mil (RM2329RM2911) per month, he said.

Unemployment among graduates is not a new issue, and it is common to see university graduates drive motorbike taxis or selling ice tea, according to Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, an employment expert from the ministry

Tran van Hun V, deputy director of the Human Resources Training Demand Forecast and Development Centre under the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, told the newspaper that it was common for unemployed university graduates to drive motorbike taxis or sell ice tea to earn a living, and he argued that this situation exists in every society.

However, it remains a huge waste of human resources and training costs, he said.

The rate of unemployed graduates increased partly because many graduates were not active enough to find suitable jobs, he said.

Director of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs Dao Quang Vinh agreed that tens of thousands of university graduates continued to be unemployment and this was a huge waste for families and the society too.

Key causes of unemployment include insufficient market information and career consultancy and guidance, training quality at educational establishments and loose connections between labour supply and demand. — Viet Nam News

I had to work temporary jobs for a long time while waiting for a suitable job.

Dao Thanh Chien