What to study to get a job?

Unemployed graduates, companies still 'red-eyed' looking for skilled workers

In the 2024 enrollment season, university admission scores skyrocketed, especially in "hot" majors such as economics, law, information technology, etc. However, amid the atmosphere of celebrating the victory of new students, many businesses are having a "headache" because of the problem of shortage of skilled human resources and human resources with professional skills.

Ms. Ngo Thi Oanh Vu, De Hues Vietnam Company shared the difficulties in recruitment at her business at the seminar "Issues on human resource quality": " During the recruitment process, I found that students are very bright and love their jobs. However, young people today are limited in terms of language and have little practical experience. When recruiting, the company gives situations to basically evaluate human resources. When encountering situations, young people are very confused and their ability to handle them is not convincing and quick. Even their presentation skills are limited ."

Mr. Truong Hoang Tam, Chairman of Printing Union No. 7 in Tan Tao Industrial Park, Ho Chi Minh City also shared at the Seminar: " The printing industry's labor market is in great need of workers, but the number of schools training this industry is very small. This is an industry that lacks both teachers and workers."

Mr. Tam’s company had to train itself and cooperate with universities to have enough human resources. They even expanded opportunities for first- and second-year students to work seasonally with pay to approach the reality of the profession sooner.

The seminar "Issues on current human resource quality" provides practical perspectives and views on the current labor market.

The stories of Mr. Tam and Ms. Oanh Vu are some small slices reflecting the current situation of "too many teachers, not enough workers" that is happening commonly in Vietnam. Although university admission scores are increasing, the quality of human resources still cannot meet the needs of the labor market.

This poses a major challenge to the education and training system, requiring fundamental changes to train workers with both knowledge and skills, ready to meet the requirements of the 4.0 industrial era.

Warning about the situation of too many teachers and not enough workers

According to statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the unemployment rate of people with university degrees or higher in the second quarter of 2023 was 2.7%, higher than the national unemployment rate of 2.25%. Meanwhile, many businesses are "thirsty" for highly skilled human resources, especially in the fields of technology and engineering.

This shows an alarming reality of our country's current labor market, which is the situation of "too many teachers, not enough workers", and one of the major reasons lies in the fact that training is not really linked to recruitment; a large number of workers after training still lack many skills and knowledge, so they are not "accepted" by the labor market.

In fact, although the number of university graduates each year in our country is around 500,000, the demand for skilled human resources from businesses is always in short supply. Partly because of the speed of business expansion, but also largely because our skilled human resources are seriously lacking.

Many businesses in Vietnam are having a "headache" because of the shortage of skilled human resources (Photo: Huynh Nhu)

According to the survey results of the Center in the first 6 months of 2024 at 9,000 enterprises operating in Ho Chi Minh City, up to 23.55% of enterprises responded that they had difficulties in recruitment, difficulty finding workers with training fields suitable for the recruitment position, workers lacked vocational skills, soft skills and low practical application capacity in work, enterprises could not meet the salary requirements for recruited workers, could not find workers with both high expertise and foreign language fluency...

More Open to College and Vocational Training

One of the underlying causes of this situation is social prejudice about the value of educational paths. University is still considered the only path, the "golden ticket" to success, while College, Secondary School or Vocational Training are often considered "secondary options" for students who do not have enough points to enter university. This prejudice has unintentionally created excessive academic pressure, forcing many young people to pursue "hot" majors that do not match their abilities and passions.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Anh Chuong, Vice Principal of Vietnam-USA College in Ho Chi Minh City, pointed out the current situation: "Students are still indifferent to options outside of university, although the recruitment demand at different levels is very large... Each level of education has its own advantages. College with a shorter training time, focusing on practice, is a good choice for young people who want to quickly enter the labor market " - Mr. Chuong emphasized the diverse recruitment needs from businesses today, not only requiring university degrees, grades, but also practical skills and work attitudes. He also added that in recent years, Vietnam-USA College has received many recruitment offers from multinational corporations, proving that the recruitment needs in this era are very diverse, at many different levels.

Recently, many businesses, especially multinational corporations, tend to recruit from Colleges and Vocational Training Schools to find skilled personnel.

In fact, compared to universities, colleges and vocational training courses have shorter training periods, helping students quickly enter the labor market and reduce the financial burden on their families. Many businesses, especially multinational corporations, are actively recruiting human resources from colleges and vocational training courses. In particular, some high-quality colleges and vocational secondary schools such as Polytechnic College, Industrial and Commercial College, Vietnam-USA College, Pasteur College of Medicine and Pharmacy, etc. are all units that always have high output rates and are sought after by businesses very early.

More innovatively, the 9+ college training form is also a practical and new form of learning, with a flexible learning path, suitable for students who have early career orientation or want to shorten their study time. Here, students not only focus on early vocational training but also study the high school cultural program. Students still study basic cultural subjects such as Math, Literature, Foreign Languages, History... along with the majors and professions they choose, ensuring a balance between theory and practice, quickly catching up with the labor market that needs young, enthusiastic and skilled human resources.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hoc-gi-de-co-viec-lam-196240830153006962.htm