Vietnam had over one million of unemployed in the second quarter, including 191,300 are graduates.
Job hunting in Hanoi
Pham Quang Vinh, head of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, announced the figures from the second quarter report on August 17.
When questioned about the high level of graduate unemployment, despite demand for skilled employees, Vinh said there were too many graduates in subjects such as business administration and accounting while they were in need of skilled engineers and other sectors.
"Many companies have failed to find skilled employees. This shows the disparity between the education and market demand in agriculture, engineering, textiles and electronics," Vinh said.
This is an age-old problem of Vietnam that hasn't been able to find an effective solution. Vietnam has 70.85 million people over 15 years old and the labour force aged 15 and older is 54.36 million and rising. However, the quality of the labour force is increasing at a slow rate. Only 20.62% are trained, an increase of just 0.56% compared to the same period last year.
In the second quarter Vietnam registered 1.08 million unemployed, an increase of 164,000 people compared to the first quarter and decreased by 55,900 compared to the same period last year. The unemployment rate among those aged from 16 to 30 stood at 7.1%. The unemployment rate for urban young people stands at 11.3%.
22.6% of people have been unemployed for more than 12 months.