The press release on the labor and employment situation in the second quarter and the first 6 months of 2026 of the newly issued Statistics Office shows that the unemployment rate of young people (aged 15-24) in the second quarter of 2026 is 8.67%. The unemployment rate of young people in urban areas is 9.75%; rural areas is 8.07%.
Notably, in the second quarter of 2026, the whole country had about 1.4 million young people (aged 15-24) unemployed and not participating in studying and training, accounting for 10% of the total number of young people.
The rate of young people unemployed and not participating in studying and training in rural areas is 11.5%, urban areas is 7.8%; young women unemployed and not participating in studying and training is 11.6%; men is 8.5%.
The unemployment rate of young people (aged 15-24) in the first 6 months of 2026 is 8.77%, 0.71 percentage points higher than the same period in 2025; of which, the unemployment rate of young people in urban areas is 10.21%, and in rural areas is 7.96%.
Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Employment expressed concern when there are up to 1.4 million young people "outside" and assessed that this is a social security burden.
The figure of about 1.4 million unemployed young people (aged 15-24) who do not participate in studying and training in the second quarter of 2026 - accounting for 10% of the total number of young people nationwide - is an alarming reality. From the perspective of policymakers, I think this is a huge waste of human resources right in the golden population structure period, and at the same time a significant challenge for the social security system," Mr. Trung said.
Recognizing the reasons why there is a situation of young people being "sluggish" in the labor market, Mr. Trung said that this group of young people is falling into a "three no's" state: no skill level, no real-world experience and no career orientation.
This situation stems from the imbalance between the education system and the actual needs of businesses that is increasingly widening. Many high school graduates or even bachelors lack soft skills, foreign languages, and technology skills to adapt to the wave of automation and AI. Besides, a significant part of young people today are facing psychological barriers: afraid of difficulties and hardships, expecting salaries and positions that are too high compared to their actual abilities. When they stumble at company interviews, instead of proactively lowering their criteria to accumulate experience, they choose to withdraw, live in seclusion or "hide" from their families, gradually losing complete connection with the labor market," Mr. Trung assessed.
Proposing fundamental solutions to bring these 1.4 million young people back to the education and labor system, Mr. Trung said that functional sectors, schools and businesses need to coordinate synchronously through breakthrough solutions.
Innovating the forecasting and market information system, Employment Service Centers in localities need to proactively approach, screen and classify this target group to provide free career counseling, connecting them with short-term retraining programs that are in line with trends.
Close "hand-in-hand" mechanism between schools and businesses through strengthening vocational training programs associated with labor use addresses. Businesses need to create space and internship locations to welcome students, while schools must cut back on academic theory to increase the number of practical practice hours.
Startup support policies and preferential loans: Coordinate with the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to activate preferential credit packages specifically for unemployed youth who want to learn a trade or create their own jobs, start a business in their hometown.
