HÀ NỘI — Đào Thanh Chiến, a university graduate from central Thanh Hóa Province, earns a monthly average of VNĐ8 million (US$355) selling ice tea and driving a motorbike taxi, not from working as a public official as he wished after graduating from the university.

Chiến, like many other graduates, had to give up his dream of joining the State payroll after spending five years seeking jobs suitable for his university training.

“I had to try to work temporary jobs for a long time while waiting for a suitable job. The temporary jobs range from security guard to marketing to driving motorbike taxi and selling ice tea,” he told Nông thôn Ngày nay (Countryside Today) newspaper.

There are months Chiến can earn up to VNĐ15 million ($666), the amount which is considered a dream for many public officials.

Chiến is among more than one million unemployed of working age in the country.

Around 200,000 university graduates are forecast to be unemployed this year,  according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

An estimate of over 100,000 university graduates are working simple jobs which require no degrees.

Nguyễn Văn Đôn, an admin of Grabbike Hà Nội, told the newspaper that most of drivers were students and unemployed graduates. Graduates who could not find jobs account for one third of his group’s staff.

“It is usual for full-time drivers to earn between VNĐ12-15 million per month,” he said.

Unemployment among graduates is not a new issue, and it is popular to see university graduates drive motorbike taxi or selling ice, according to Nguyễn Thị Lan Hương, an employment expert from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Trần Văn Hùng, deputy director of the Human Resources Training Demand Forecast and Development Centre under the Việt Nam Institute of Educational Sciences, told the newspaper that it is usual for unemployed university graduates to drive motorbike taxis or sell ice tea to earn a living, and he argued that this situation exists in every society.

However, it remains a huge waste of human resources and training cost, he said.

The rate of unemployed graduates increased partly because many graduates were not active enough to find suitable jobs, he said.

Director of the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs Đào Quang Vinh agreed that tens of thousands of university graduates continued unemployment and this was a huge waste for families and the society too.

However, it should be noted that not only in Việt Nam but also many other countries face a high rate of unemployment among university graduates.

There are many reasons leading to the problem, including both subjective and objective ones, he said. Key causes include insufficient market information and career consultancy and guidance, training quality at universities and educational establishment and loose connection between labour supply and demand.

At an online dialogue with young people on Tuesday, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union Lê Quốc Phong said university graduates should expand opportunities to seek jobs in different localities in the country. They should not only expect to find jobs in big cities and urban areas.

There are many job opportunities in remote, rural and mountainous areas, he said.

It is the responsibility of authorised agencies to provide information about the labour market for graduates, but they themselves should take a wider and more flexible view toward postgraduate jobs, he said.

The Central Committee of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union is actively working with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to form solutions to support graduates to find jobs, Phong added.

Such solutions are expected to help graduates to earn suitable jobs.

Still, Chiến said “I’m used to these temporary jobs, and I’ve decided to stick to driving a motorbike taxi and selling ice tea. I have no plan to seek another job.” — VNS