As can be seen from job transaction at many localities, technical workers are always in high demand. On average, proportion of recruiting technical labors accounts for 50% to 70% of recruiting target. Base salary for this group started from 4-6 million/person/month; positions in high tech job have salary up to 10 million but there is still shortage of supply for this group. On the other hand, many people with university degree are jobless, due to several reasons: their majors do not have large market demand, especially majors in social sciences; starting salary does not meet their expectation, the qualification does not match with degree they hold. The situation in which laborers with university degree accept to work as manual workers in a field not suitable for their majors is very common in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city…
Director of Bureau of Employment (Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs) Ms Nguyen Thi Lan Huong said, Vietnam is making transition in labor structure from agriculture sector to industrial sector, in principle, laborers with secondary and primary level must make up larger proportion than laborers with university level. However, the model of training for workforce in Vietnam is not appropriate for current labor market. Theoretically we are not on short of technical laborers but inherently vocational education should develop faster than university education. On the other hand, some people have qualification incommensurate with their university degree but persist on thinking that the job they work should be on bar with the level of their university degree. Their picky selection contributes to the answer of why unemployment in Vietnam often takes form of voluntary unemployment.
Addressing the problem of allocation
Recent national examination are marked with many changes, application for schools after receiving examination result helps student assess the performance and select school matching with their qualification. In reality, having a base score from 12 to 13 is enough for student to enter universities, education ramification in which 3/4 high school graduates continue their way into universities is problematic and causes a number of consequences for labor market.
Whilst vocational education is “struggling” to fulfill their target for student enrollment, university education is admitting many unqualified students, this is a huge waste for society. Ms Nguyen Thi Lan Huong said, ratio of laborer with university degree or higher should only make up about 20% of total labor force . Therefore, during enrollment process, we must allocate 40% to universities and remaining 60% to vocational training which will be more reasonable.
It can be said that ramification in education has been mentioned for a long time, but in reality the implementation is not really effective. This is considered a major social problem, therefore after National Resolution no.2 in 1998, we have placed focuses on allocating high school graduates to vocational training sector. However, the result of allocation is limited.
Directive no.10-CT/TU on 5/12/2011 from Political Bureau clearly states: “Aiming to have 30% secondary school graduates select vocational training”. In reality, approximately 3.5% graduates from secondary schools involve in vocational training, this number is particularly low in comparison to the target.
According to Head of General Directorate of Vocational Training, approximately 1.5 million students graduated from secondary schools annually, if the directive no.10 is well-executed, there will be around 450 thousand participants in vocational training; not to mention high school students may also choose vocational training later. A number of 700 to 800 thousand skilled laborers will improve effectiveness and create a reasonable labor structure. By structure, Vietnam labor market only needs 15% of total graduates with university level; 40% are of vocational training, secondary level, college level; 40%-50% are unskilled workers with no formal education. In order to achieve this, the allocation should not only based upon legal authority. We need to create “technical barrier”, orient qualified students to enter high school and university, focus remaining students in vocational education. This requires involvement from various agencies in order to successfully implement Directive no.10 of Secretariat of the Central Committee.
Apart from that, in order to address the problem of allocation, job orientation for students should be well done to help them assess and consider a field of study appropriate with their qualification and preference. Then again, with the help from priority policies from government, local government should be able to come up with a mechanism that can stimulate student to pursue vocational training. What is even more important is the enhancement of quality and operation efficiency of vocational schools, especially the solid linkage between schools and enterprises, so that students can have job right after graduation…
Accept competition
When AEC is established, ASEAN regional labor market is predicted to experience an extraordinary growth due to robust flow of labor. The change in economic structure entails the change in labor structure which in turn generates increasing demand for high quality, qualified laborers. According to International Labor Organization (ILO), after joining AEC, number of job created in Vietnam will increase 14.6% in 2025. However, due to unbalanced development level between countries, high quality and qualified laborers will mainly move to markets like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Majority of laborers moving within ASEAN is composed of low-skilled or unskilled laborers.
ASEAN currently already has a pact regarding free movement of workforce within ASEAN and agreement on mutual acknowledgement of practicing certificates issued by official agencies for 8 professions that are allowed for free labor movement: Auditor, Architect, Engineer, Dentist, Doctor, Nurse, Investigator and Tourism. Concurrently, acknowledging professional skill is one of important conditions for implementation of labor movement between Vietnam and other regional countries. Skilled laborers who are acknowledged about skill, qualification are free to move. This also presents a challenge to the countries that do not have or yet to be able to train a pool of skilled, qualified laborers and are forced to accept laborers from other countries.
Vietnam has certain advantages when joining AEC, in term of the scale of labor, and composition of young labor force. However, starting from a relatively low base, with 45% of workforce are in agriculture sector, most of them are untrained, only 30% officially enter labor market. Vice minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep asserts: Labor skill is the direct competing factor when Vietnam becomes integrated. With current situation of labor, we need to improve quality of workforce, make necessary adjustment to labor structure, organize labor market in a better manner. Apart from that, laborers need to self-improve their capability, having other soft skills and learning foreign languages will provide them opportunities to work in AEC countries. Vietnamese laborers need to be aware of this, accept the pressure of competition in order to avoid losses right in our home country.
According to the study on ASEAN Community 2015: “Integration management is directed toward better employment and common wealth” conducted by Asian Development Bank, the change in labor composition under the impact of AEC integration will increasingly create demands for different qualifications. In which, demand for average qualification will experience most dramatic increase, followed by low-skilled professions. It is predicted that from 2015 to 2025, demand for laborers with average qualification will increase 28%, compared to the rise of 23% for low-skilled laborers and 13% for high-skilled laborers.
This requires that Vietnam needs to meet the demand for employment growth, develop a labor force with normal qualification or higher, along with that is the integrating of economic and workforce planning. According to the forecast, with the expansion of fields such as textile, construction and transportation, the focus on specific professional skills and promotion of research in sciences and technology will help Vietnam’s young laborers better prepare for future.

(According to resolution 86/ NĐ-CP issued on 2 October 2015, stipulates about collection and management of tuition fee with education institution in national education system and policies on exemption, reduction of tuition fee, and supporting tuition fee from 2015-2016 to 2020-2021 school years, graduates from secondary schools and continue their study into secondary level (apprenticeship) will be exempted 100% of tuition fee. Currently, Ministry of Education and Training and Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is designing scheme on Framework of National Qualification with eight levels. In which, three levels 6,7,8 that belongs to university education were designed by Ministry of Education and Training while remaining levels are parts of vocational education, these levels are designed by The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. These qualification levels are linked together and the outputs are agreed and standardized.)