No one expects to lose their job, but during this difficult economic
time, even high-level corporate workers are being dismissed in record numbers.
Nguyen Thi Hang used to work at a
large bank, but the economic crisis forced the bank to cut its staff.
When her family members go to
work, Haèng stays at home with her mother-in-law, who frequently expresses her
disappointment.
Nguyeãn Van Canh has it even
worse. He graduated from an economic university in Ha Noi and worked in the
business division of a real estate company, but one day the company was
abruptly dissolved.
“I wondered how I would earn
money to live,” he says. “How could I pay my rent and my children’s tuition and
feed my wife, who is also unemployed?”
Canh sent CVs to a wide variety
of companies with no success. Although he thought of himself as an
intellectual, the lack of opportunities forced him to join the labourers in the
streets. Some days he worked as a xe oâm (motorbike taxi) driver, some days as
a porter and some days as an electricity and water repairman.
“If I don’t work hard, my wife
and two children won’t be able to eat,” he says. “If we can’t pay our rent,
we’ll be cast out onto the street. My current occupations are only temporary so
that my family has enough money to survive. I hope I’m contacted by an employer
soon so that I can get a more secure job.”
According to a survey by the Young
People Research Institute, 70 per cent of Vietnamese students said their
biggest worry was finding a job. Another survey showed that less than 10 per
cent of scientific bachelor’s degree holders could find jobs at research
institutes and universities.
Vu Nhu Quy obtained a Ph.D degree
in bio-technology from Russia and came back to Vieät Nam with ambitious plans
for the future.
“I planned to write textbooks to
help change the way universities teach students and come up with new measures
to treat livestock diseases,” he says.
But although Quy tried to find a
job at many offices, no place employed him and the young scientist was forced
to go back to his home village in a northern province.
The unemployment situation may
not appear so severe because there are few people completely without jobs: if a
white-collar worker is unemployed, he can still work as a labourer. But in
fact, Viet Nam is facing a vast imbalance in training. When the country devoted
itself to industrialisation and modernisation, 50 per cent of students were
directed to “hot sectors”: business management, journalism and law.
Today, however, the thousands of
students who graduate annually with these degrees are forced to work in
unskilled jobs – serving food at low price rice restaurants, being domestic
helpers and street vendors.
And when Viet Nam sought to
develop its information technology industry, the universities began to release
thousands of software engineers every year, even though the country needs
experts from different industries who are also knowledgeable about technology
more than people who know only about computers.
As unemployment grows, people are
increasingly concerned. But rather than letting worry and depression take over,
it’s best to be proactive. And for those whose family members are unemployed,
it’s important to be sympathetic instead of disdainful.
“A clever applicant knows how to
take advantage of every opportunity,” says Vu Thanh, deputy director of Ha Noi
Job Promotion Centre. “Employers always appreciate people who are serious and
constantly pursue their goals.”
VNS
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