After quitting her job at a seafood company in Tra Noc Industrial Park (Can Tho City) earlier this year, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong (38 years old) mainly stayed at home to work as a garment maker to earn extra income.
Although she was advised by officials of the Can Tho City Employment Service Center to participate in a short-term vocational training course to change jobs, Ms. Hong said she was still not enthusiastic because she still had to worry about living expenses and taking care of young children.
Learning a trade is good, but now I need to make money immediately. Many courses are not sure to find a suitable job after graduation" - she shared.
Similarly, Mr. Tran Van Phuc (41 years old, residing in Binh Thuy ward) after quitting his job at a mechanical workshop has also not chosen to participate in vocational training even though he has been introduced to some free training courses.
According to Mr. Phuc, at the age of over 40, learning a new profession is not easy because there is still livelihood pressure and a psychology of reluctance to change jobs. Currently, he mainly drives delivery trucks and works as a hired laborer every day to earn income to take care of his family.
If I go to school for a few months, I don't have money for living expenses. Moreover, many people after graduation still have to find jobs themselves, so I prioritize finding a job first," he said.
Not only Ms. Hong and Mr. Phuc, many unemployed workers in the western provinces and cities are still prioritizing finding jobs or doing seasonal jobs to have immediate income instead of participating in vocational training courses.
According to data from the National Center for Employment Services (Ministry of Home Affairs), in the period 2023-2025, the number of workers supported with vocational training only accounted for about 2.7-2.9% per year of the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits. Since the new policy was promulgated, in the first 4 months of 2026, the rate of workers supported with vocational training has increased to about 4.6%.
However, the number of people participating in vocational training support is generally still quite modest compared to the number of people receiving annual unemployment benefits.
Sharing about the reason, Mr. Pham Xuan Vinh - Head of Unemployment Insurance Professional Affairs Department, National Center for Employment Services (Ministry of Home Affairs) - said that most workers are currently more interested in unemployment benefits to cover their immediate lives and spend time looking for new jobs.
According to Mr. Vinh, the current vocational training support level still does not meet the actual needs. For example, for professions that require a lot of practice such as cooking, the support level of about 1 million VND/month is difficult to compensate for raw material and learning costs.
In addition, one of the important reasons is that the training profession is not closely linked to the needs of the labor market. In the context of strong digital transformation, many vocational education institutions still mainly train in existing professions instead of focusing on new job positions that businesses need.
Mr. Vinh also said that propaganda and vocational training counseling are not enough to attract workers to participate in learning to change careers and improve skills.
To promote vocational training support, he believes that it is necessary to pay attention to the needs of businesses, considering this as an input for vocational training institutions.
Labor market analysis and forecasting also need to be promoted, focusing on forecasting new occupations, quantitative information on quantity, specific needs of businesses to what targets are needed, what job positions are needed. From there, orient workers to choose occupations with needs.
