The higher the education level, the higher the unemployment rate.
According to Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep, employment figures for the third quarter of 2015 show that the higher the educational level of the workforce, the higher the unemployment rate.
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| A job counseling and placement session. |
On the afternoon of December 24th, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs released its updated Labour Market Bulletin for the third quarter of 2015. According to the bulletin, over 1.1 million people of working age were unemployed nationwide during the quarter. Of these, more than 483,000 were unemployed individuals with technical skills.
Specifically, among skilled workers, those with a university degree or higher are the most unemployed, with 225,500 people (accounting for 20%, an increase of 26,100 compared to the previous quarter). Following closely behind are those with a professional college degree, with 117,300 unemployed (accounting for 10.4%, an increase of 24,100 compared to the previous quarter). Meanwhile, the group of workers with vocational training courses of less than 3 months, intermediate and advanced vocational training certificates have the lowest unemployment rate.
Deputy Minister Doan Mau Diep commented: "The higher the education level, the higher the unemployment rate, so it's not wrong to say that we still prioritize academic degrees. This needs to be addressed."
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Director of the Institute of Labor and Social Sciences (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs), stated that the supply of highly qualified labor is in surplus compared to demand, especially in popular fields such as finance and accounting. Meanwhile, there is a shortage of skilled labor, particularly mid-level vocational workers in engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, and construction.
"When I met with leaders of vocational schools, they all said that students don't like studying engineering, electrical engineering, and electronics, so there aren't enough students to train. We need to better adjust the training pathways," said Dr. Huong.
Furthermore, according to Dr. Huong, the practice of universities lowering admission scores to attract more students has led to a shortage of applicants for vocational schools, and therefore needs to be changed.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong stated that in the third quarter, figures on job creation and wages both increased significantly thanks to the economic recovery (especially in labor-intensive sectors such as industry, construction, and services). “This year, businesses will have more resources to better address salaries and bonuses for their employees. Furthermore, after the Lunar New Year, the turnover rate is likely to be lower than in previous years,” Dr. Huong said.
In the third quarter of 2015, the country created over 637,000 new jobs, bringing the total number of employed people nationwide to over 53 million, with an average monthly salary of approximately 4.61 million VND. Workers in the state sector continued to lead in income, with an average of 6.16 million VND per month; the lowest income belonged to workers in the cooperative sector, at only 2.98 million VND per month.
According to Tienphong
