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The increasingly high number of bankrupted or dissolved businesses means fewer job opportunities for new university graduates.

Hai’s story

Finishing the Hanoi Economics University four years ago, Duong Van Khai has not found a job in Hanoi. He has decided to give up the dream of living and working in the capital city and has returned to the home village.

Hai is lucky enough as he has found a new job at a provincial state agency. Though he would have to experience a six month probation period and the new job has no relation to his trained major, Hai believes that this is really a good choice because this would stop his unemployment period.

With the job, Hai can receive a salary every month, though he knows the salary of a state official is modest. However, “modest” is better than “nothing.”

Hai, as a student of one of the most prestigious universities in Vietnam, once dreamed of getting a good job after the graduation, the job that allows him to work in an international working environment.

When Hai was a student, he believed that it would be very easy for an economics student to find a good job. He felt optimistic when his ability was appreciated at a company where he spent the internship.

However, when Hai finished university, the company refused Hai, saying that it had to lay off workers to cut down expenses.

After that, Hai applied for different jobs at different companies. However, Hai was told that his curriculum vitae showed that he most fits the job of teaching. Big corporations refused Hai, while Hai himself refused the jobs at some private companies, which Hai believed had “bad management skills” with the family-company model.

After the failures, Hai and some of this friends decided to become “self-employed.” However, their company got dissolved just after a short period of operation. Hai became redundant again, while incurring debts.

Finally, has given up the dream. “The only thing I wish to have now is a stable job which can bring enough money for me to get married,” he said.

Hai never thought before that he would return to the home village, live and work in a rural area. He feels shameful when taking the job, which has been arranged for him by the father, who is also a provincial official and has “good relations” with the leaders of the state agencies.

Feeling anxious about the future

Tran Van Thanh, a student of the Hanoi National University, still has to spend one more semester at the university before he graduates. However, he feels worried stiff now about job opportunities, because he has not taken any part time before and he does not have working experience.

Thanh’s elder brother, who finished the Civil Engineering Junior College one year ago, also has not found a job in Hanoi. Therefore, they both have been living on parents, who work in the rice fields in the home village. The parents always urge Thanh and his brother to find jobs to earn money themselves, because they are getting older and cannot take hard works any more.

Like Thanh, many young people feel anxious about the future when hearing about the employment rate increase and they feel a hard pressure when preparing to make their way in the world.

Dr Nguyen Manh Hung, President of Thai Ha Books Company, said that Vietnamese students nowadays now experience their “crisis period” after the graduation. Therefore, they have to be equipped well before they make their way in the world.