News and Events

There are very few job opportunities for new school graduates nowadays. A lot of young bachelors, including the ones with two or three university degrees, have to lay by their degrees in wardrobe and take the jobs as blue collar workers.

Tran Ngoc Vinh, who finished the Hanoi Trade University, only accepted to meet the reporter for an interview after the reporter contacted him the third time.

Vinh seemed to be reserved when meeting strange people in his small rent room in Thanh Tri district in the suburbs of Hanoi. He feels the inferiority complex because he is now just a freelance construction worker, who only earns a little of money just enough to pay for the room rent and the basic needs.

Vinh finished the Hanoi Trade University in 2009, but he has not found a job since then, though he introduced himself as an industrious worker. Finally, Vinh decided to lay by the university degree in the wardrobe and take a job as a worker on the construction site of a project in Ha Dong district.

Vinh said that some friends of his, including the ones who finished schools with excellent marks, still have not found jobs. One of them is now also working together with Vinh, for which they both received VND3 million, enough for them to stay in Hanoi to continue looking for jobs.

In fact, Vinh is not alone. Analysts said that the Job Day in 2012 gathered thousands of participants, the highest ever number. These included the bachelors who wished to find any kinds of job, provided that they could bring money.

Hong Nga, a graduate from the Hanoi Labor and Social Affairs, said she has been staying jobless over the last two years, since the day she finished the school.

Unlike many other bachelors, who only want the jobs in Hanoi, Nga returned to the home village and applied for a job at the culture division of the Binh Giang district local authorities. Since she has been refused, she has decided to come back to Hanoi, where she planned to take any jobs to earn her living.

“I feel ashamed that I have to take manual works though I have university degree. However, I cannot continue living on my parents and stay jobless. I need to work to earn money to feed myself,” she said.

When asked why she was refused by employers, Nga said they were all too demanding. They wanted the candidates with experiences and fluent English skills.

Sometimes, Nga got so discouraged that she decided to return to the home village to work on the rice fields like her parents. However, she then changed her idea, promising that she needs to find a good job to deserve the money paid by her parents to fund her university study.

Nga now works as a forwarder for a company in Bac Thang Long Industrial zone in Hanoi and receives VND2.5 million dong. However, her parents still believe that she works for a private enterprise for a high monthly salary.

Still staying redundant with two university degrees

Tran Nam Ngoc, Director of Blue Company, a labor supplier, said that a lot of university graduates come to see him to seek the jobs which don’t need high qualification such as house maid, salesman, waiter or coffee makers. However, Ngoc does not accept the candidates, because they would only take jobs for some time and would leave immediately if they can find better jobs.

Ngoc said that even those who have two university degrees have also been waiting for jobs at his company, because jobs are not always ready for them to take.