Skill aging - the biggest risk
For many years, experience has been considered a "asset" of older workers. However, the current context shows that this advantage is rapidly decreasing. Many businesses prioritize recruiting young workers because of their rapid adaptability, willingness to work flexibly, and lower salary and benefits costs. In many recruitment notices, although age limits are not clearly stated, the requirements of "dynamic", "high-pressure", and "flexible timing" implicitly eliminate middle-aged workers right from the application round.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Nguyen, 41 years old (Dinh Cong ward, Hanoi) said that after losing his job in June 2025, despite having more than 17 years of experience in the field of graphic design, he still struggled to find new jobs. Long-term experience - once considered value-added, has become a factor that makes businesses hesitant about costs and adaptability.
The human resources department of many companies when interviewing me said that with the salary I proposed, they could hire more than 1 young employee. They also said that the qualifications and systematic training of young workers today even produce more quality personnel than before," Mr. Nguyen said.
Mr. Nguyen also admitted that age is just an external barrier, "skills aging" is the biggest internal challenge for middle-aged workers. "Many industries are changing rapidly in terms of technology, processes and working methods. Meanwhile, most middle-aged workers have not been retrained in time, still working according to old habits, lacking digital skills and technological thinking," Mr. Nguyen shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thuc Quynh Anh - Human Resources Director of Thien Duc Medical Group (My Dinh ward, Hanoi) said that currently the gap in retraining for middle-aged workers is still very significant. Short-term courses are still fragmented, the cost is not low compared to income; vocational training programs mainly target young workers or newcomers to the market.
For middle-aged workers, learning a new profession is worrying about being "late", learning technology is lacking foundation, and after graduation it is still not certain to be recruited. In the opposite direction, "fearing" recruiting middle-aged workers also causes businesses to narrow down their human resources. Many positions require stability, experience in handling situations, team leadership ability - factors that young workers can hardly get in a short time. However, the lack of flexible use mechanisms and correct capacity assessment makes businesses not effectively utilize experienced labor forces," Ms. Quynh Anh said.
What solutions for middle-aged workers?
Many middle-aged workers, after losing their jobs or not finding a suitable job, are forced to move to the informal sector. They drive technology cars, work as security guards, small online sales, take seasonal jobs or do unstable manual labor. Unstable income, lack of social insurance, health insurance, high occupational risk... are common practices of the group of workers who used to have stable jobs in the formal sector.
This not only affects the lives of each individual and family but also poses a major challenge to social security. When the middle-aged labor force is pushed out of the formal labor market, the risk of re-poverty, loss of accumulation and burden on the welfare system is inevitable.
Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Employment believes that, in order not to be eliminated early, middle-aged workers are forced to be more proactive in updating skills, especially basic digital skills, learning ability and adapting to new working environments. The mindset of "working a lifetime" needs to be replaced by a lifelong learning mindset.
On the State's side, there needs to be a policy of substantive retraining for middle-aged workers, linking training with recruitment needs, supporting costs and study time. Businesses also need to change their views, considering middle-aged workers as resources that need restructuring, not a burden of costs.
The labor market will only develop sustainably when it does not leave behind a generation of workers who are at their peak in experience. Between the two waves of transformation and competition, if there are no timely solutions, "age stuck" will no longer be a personal story, but become a social issue that needs to be seriously considered," said Mr. Le Quang Trung.
