A familiar exclamation that job seekers often share on social networks is: "In Vietnam, is 30 years old considered an old worker?". They express their frustration, because it is very difficult to find a job now, employers are hesitant and do not favor new graduates as much. According to statistics from the Ministry of Home Affairs , in the first quarter of 2025, nearly 43% of job seekers are between the ages of 30 and 39, more than 37% are between the ages of 20 and 29. The above information is extracted from the Labor Market Bulletin data compiled by the Institute of State Organization and Labor Science (Ministry of Home Affairs) from 18,000 job seekers on websites, 25,000 recruiting businesses with nearly 200,000 job postings.
Many people are looking for a new job in a "passive" position, meaning they have temporarily stopped their familiar job due to streamlining, labor cuts, or the company or unit rearranging its operating model. They start from zero, feeling confused, somewhat self-conscious, and vaguely looking for a new direction. Ms. My Trang (Long Xuyen ward), who used to work in a bank, said that the banking industry has never cut staff as strongly as it does now. Last year, Ms. Trang was one of the cases that was cut, even though she was the head of a department - a position she had worked hard to achieve for many years. After two consecutive probationary periods at other banks, Ms. Trang realized that her old path was no longer suitable, and it was time to change direction. “At the age of 35, I applied for a private enterprise, starting all over again, although the salary was lower than before, the job was completely new, and I had to learn a lot. Instead of tormenting myself, I found the motivation to go to work every day, tried to improve my new skills and certainly had to make a lot of effort. I received encouragement, sincere feedback and realized that the U40 generation after many years of doing the same familiar task over and over again is also a “weakness” in the working environment” - Ms. Trang shared.
Older workers attend job fair to find suitable jobs
Ms. Vuong Thi Tham (Vinh Trach commune) after a period of staying at home as a "breastfeeding mother" and devoting all her time to taking care of her child, clearly felt the financial pressure, when relying on only one person working. She "spread" her applications in many places hoping to find a suitable job and admitted that in 5 years of staying at home, the level of backwardness and inferiority to everyone else may be greater than the number of years. "I am 38 years old, it is really difficult to compare with young people who are dynamic, good at technology and understand the current social situation. Although I am confident that I used to do office work quite well, my English and IT skills are not too bad, but compared to the general level, I cannot be a bright choice for employers" - Ms. Tham confided.
In early 2025, Ms. Tham tried out at a branch of the S financial group, learned how to use Tiktok, and livestreamed to advise customers. The pressure of new things, targets, and successful contracts... was like a vicious circle with no way out. In the end, she had to return to being a "stay-at-home mom", continuing to send out applications day after day, hoping to find a new job soon. She said that there are many jobs now, but most of them are not suitable, because it is difficult for her to work overtime, the salary is not as expected, and many places even encounter fraud right from the interview round.
The paradox today is that there are many businesses and companies recruiting, even continuously posting recruitment notices from last year to this year, but the supply still cannot meet the demand. In fact, despite having quotas, most businesses only recruit skilled workers aged 18-35, and rarely recruit workers over 40. Fields such as garment, food processing, seafood... require high intensity and physical labor. Meanwhile, the remaining office jobs require high levels of expertise and experience, and the demand for recruitment is low. Many workers are in a situation of "not yet reaching retirement age, but already past their working age", making it difficult to compete with young workers.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam, an administrator of the job recruitment page on Facebook, said that after talking with applicants and employers, he realized that units and businesses would be reluctant to accept older workers because they thought it was more difficult to train them than younger workers. On the other hand, older workers are often those who are used to doing one job for a long time, and find it difficult or slow to adapt to new things, especially technology. Other issues, such as health, personal and family circumstances, etc., also affect the productivity of this group of workers.
Meanwhile, job seekers often pay attention to salary, workplace, do not want to be away from home, refuse overtime, are afraid of pressure, afraid of business trips, mainly aim for office work... In fact, finding a job is not difficult nowadays, perhaps job seekers "complain" about low salary, are picky, expect too much, while they themselves do not meet the requirements.
Workers who have found jobs have advice: If you have not yet found the job you expected, do anything that can make money for now, accept a low income to gain experience, observe the market, understand how society operates, in order to continue to develop yourself and adapt to the requirements of the labor market.
Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/nguoi-lao-dong-lon-tuoi-kho-khan-tim-viec-a423674.html
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