Don't let graduates be unemployed.

The labor market update, published by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the General Statistics Office at the end of October, shows that in the second quarter of 2015, the national workforce increased by 73,000 people, the number of employed people increased by 103,000 people, and the number of unemployed people of working age decreased by 15,200 people compared to the first quarter.

However, these figures do not alleviate concerns, as the report indicates that there are still over 1,144,000 unemployed people of working age, 53.1% of whom are not technically skilled, an increase of 50,800 compared to the first quarter.

The arduous path to finding a job. Illustration: Internet

In particular, unemployment among university graduates continued to increase compared to the first quarter (from 3.29% to 4.6%); vocational school graduates increased from 3.66% to 4.49%; and those with basic vocational training increased from 2.05% to 2.71%. Even more alarming is the continued increase in the youth unemployment rate, reaching 6.68% (2.8 times higher than the overall unemployment rate and an increase of 0.08 percentage points compared to the first quarter), with the urban youth unemployment rate at 11.84%.

Data from the Ministry of Education and Training also shows that during the period 2010-2014, among the group of university-educated workers, while the employment rate for graduates increased by only 38%, the number of unemployed doubled.

These figures further highlight the structural imbalance in the trained workforce between vocational education and general education and training, a situation that labor experts have warned will likely worsen as Vietnam integrates into the ASEAN Economic Community.

Don't let graduates be unemployed. Photo: Internet

According to data published by Associate Professor Tran Dinh Thien and his colleagues (Vietnam Institute of Economics), compared to 2012 and 2013, the economy showed more positive signs at the end of 2014, creating jobs for approximately 1.6 million workers (a 3.6% increase compared to 2013), of which about 1.494 million jobs were created domestically (a 2.7% increase compared to 2013).

However, although the number of newly established businesses is greater than the number of businesses that dissolve, the number of new jobs created is lower than the number of jobs lost. Furthermore, newly established businesses often create more precarious jobs than older, more stable businesses.

So, it's clear that, although the socio-economic situation, as reported in the opening session of this meeting, shows optimistic signs such as GDP growth in 2015 estimated at over 6.5%, the highest in the past five years and exceeding the set target (6.2%); inflation is under control, the macroeconomy is gradually stabilizing; total budget revenue still increased by 7.4% and has increased by approximately double in the past five years compared to the previous period... but there are still significant concerns when looking at the domestic labor market.

More money could be earned, GDP could increase even further, but those figures would only truly be meaningful if we could curb unemployment even more. Unemployment is not only a waste of resources but also leads to countless negative consequences. Just look at a family: parents earn a lot of money, but if their children are numerous and unemployed, then "their resources will be depleted," making it difficult to escape poverty.

According to Nguoi Lao Dong (The Laborer) newspaper.