Despite a nationwide increase in literacy rates and education levels, Vietnam’s university graduates are still struggling to find jobs.
According to the General Statistics Office, college degree holders currently account for 15% of the country’s unemployed workforce, reports Nikkei Asian Review. This is not because there are not enough jobs but rather because the opportunities available are often incompatible with the skills of college graduates.
For foreign investors, a large part of Vietnam’s appeal is the nation’s cheap workforce. Samsung factories, for instance, currently employ some 110,000 people of the local workforce in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces. However most of the employees at these factories are blue-collar workers, while only a few positions remain open to college graduates.
Increasing dependence on foreign capital has also slowed the growth of domestic industry, thus forcing many university degree holders to take such blue-collar jobs in order to earn a living.
Another factor contributing to Vietnamese graduates’ job woes is the geographical distribution of businesses. As of now, most big companies are located in the country’s two largest metropolises, Hanoi and Saigon. At the same time, each of Vietnam’s 63 designated cities and provinces are all vying for foreign capital but making separate efforts, resulting in an imbalance in the distribution of industries.
[Photo via Viec Lam Vietnam]
