Of more than 32,300 job seekers in Ho Chi Minh City, almost four-fifths have a university degree and have more difficulty finding the right job than other groups, according to a survey.
Although bachelor’s degree holders make up the majority of job seekers, the number of jobs requiring such a degree is only 23 percent of the total, says the Human Resources Forecasting Center survey. HCMC Labor Market Information (Falmi).
The survey polled 14,500 businesses and 32,300 job seekers in the city in the third quarter.
More than a fifth of job seekers had a college diploma and the number of jobs requiring this level of education represented 24.6%, suggesting that there was no major difference between supply and demand for recruitment.
Up to 13.5% of recruitments concerned manual workers, but only 0.5% of job seekers belonged to this category.
Falmi Deputy Director Do Thanh Van said university degree holders find it more difficult to seek employment due to the gap between job seekers’ and employers’ salary expectations and capabilities.
The survey found that more than 40 percent of job seekers expect a monthly salary above VND20 million (US$820), but only 15 percent of jobs offer this salary, indicating that there will be strong competition in this salary range.
“Companies are now looking for people with work experience who can start working immediately, and they are also maintaining a tight salary budget, which is why college graduates have difficulty finding jobs,” Van said.
Another survey conducted by the HCMC Employment Services Center earlier this year found that 36 percent of unemployed workers had a college degree and just over half had none.