Vietnam's 1.6 Million Youth Outside Work and Education Expose Gaps Despite Job Growth

Youth fall behind as the wider job market grows

Vietnam had about 1.6 million people aged 15 to 24 outside employment, education and training in the third quarter of 2026, an increase of approximately 195,100 from the previous quarter, according to the National Statistics Office. They represented 11.2% of that age group, even as employment across the country continued to expand.

Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Tien Hai presented the figures at the prime minister's dialogue with young people in Hanoi on October 15. He warned that leaving a large share of young people outside both learning and work risks wasting their abilities and increasing pressure on social welfare over time.

The question came from Nguyen Thi Nhu Quynh, an artificial intelligence engineer at Vindynamics, a company researching and developing humanoid robots. She asked how the government would forecast demand for workers, connect applicants with employers, support changes of occupation and create jobs as AI and automation reshape employment.

Hai's response, detailed in the government's account of the dialogue, combined changes to training, better employment information and support for economic growth. His ministry is also developing a worker database connected to national databases and the national employment exchange.

The figures reveal two problems requiring different responses: helping recent graduates make the move into employment, and reaching young people who have spent longer outside classrooms, training centres and workplaces. Earlier statistics showed that many in the second group lacked technical qualifications and lived in rural areas.

What the 1.6 million figure means

NEET stands for not in employment, education or training. It describes young people who have neither a job nor a place in formal learning or training. The category includes people looking for work and people temporarily outside the labour market.

Youth unemployment measures something different: the share of young people participating in the labour market who are without work and seeking employment. Hai said that rate reached 9.07% in the third quarter, compared with a national unemployment rate of 2.22%. The youth rate was about 4.1 times the national figure.

The NEET rate uses the whole population aged 15 to 24 as its base. Vietnam's 11.2% therefore means roughly one in nine young people in that age group was outside work, education and training.

Hai put that share below global and Southeast Asian averages of more than 20% and more than 16%, respectively. Vietnam's immediate concern is the number needing help and the speed with which they can return to learning or enter suitable work.

Graduation helps explain the quarterly rise

The National Statistics Office attributed part of the increase of 195,100 to the graduation calendar. Many university, college and vocational students finish their courses during the third quarter, leaving education before securing their first job.

A graduate waiting for recruitment results can enter the NEET category during that gap. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, acting head of the statistics agency's Population and Labour Statistics Department, also described temporary breaks associated with health, family circumstances or reconsidering a career.

The recent sequence shows how the latest figure fits into a longer period:

• By the end of 2025, about 1.4 million young Vietnamese were outside employment, education and training.
• Statistics published in April showed that nearly 70% of the group lived in rural areas and 87% had no technical training.
• In the third quarter of 2026, the count reached about 1.6 million, rising by approximately 195,100 from the previous quarter.
• On October 15, Hai outlined the government's response at the prime minister's youth dialogue.

The seasonal explanation makes the time between graduation and employment a practical target for policy. Career advice before students leave school, clearer vacancy information and closer contact with employers could shorten that waiting period.

Rural youth face a different set of barriers

Statistics published in April showed that more than half of young people in the NEET category were female. Nearly 70% lived in rural areas, while 87% had never received technical or professional training. Among those without such training, more than half had not completed upper secondary school.

Only about 13% had received training at an elementary vocational level or above. Around 32% expressed a desire to find work. Those figures describe a group with widely different educational starting points and levels of readiness for employment.

Hai identified limited access to education, job information and career guidance as contributing factors, particularly in rural, remote, mountainous and ethnic minority areas. For young people in those places, help finding a course or understanding an employer's requirements may be as necessary as access to a vacancy.

The April profile also points to a limit in a response centred mainly on university graduates. Many young people need an accessible route into basic vocational learning before they can compete for jobs requiring technical skills.

AI adds urgency to an existing training gap

Quynh described a labour market in which traditional jobs are changing or disappearing while new positions demand more advanced skills. Her work in humanoid robotics placed the question close to technologies already changing how businesses organise tasks.

Hai said AI creates new employment while making working life harder for people who have not received training or kept pace with technological change. He identified weaknesses in the structure and quality of training, and a gap between what institutions teach and what employers need.

The minister also cited a lack of experience, insufficient skills and limited effort in searching for work among some young people. He said some were reluctant to seek employment because their families supported them financially. His response also addressed barriers involving education and access to information.

Felix Weidenkaff, an employment and labour market policy specialist at the International Labour Organization's office in Vietnam, called for investment in productive jobs, future skills and better labour market information. His recommendations included stronger partnerships between education providers and businesses, training led by employers, and continued learning in digital and green skills.

For training providers, that means connecting instruction to the tasks businesses need workers to perform. For employers, it means taking a role in preparing applicants rather than relying entirely on schools to deliver people ready for every requirement.

More jobs nationally, but a difficult first step

Vietnam's wider employment figures improved during the same quarter. The labour force reached nearly 54.1 million, up 278,400 from the previous quarter, and nearly 53 million people were employed. Employment rose by 0.6% from the second quarter and 1.4% from a year earlier.

Across the first nine months of 2026, the labour force averaged 53.8 million people aged 15 and above, an increase of 697,000 from the same period in 2025. Urban areas accounted for about 20.8 million employed people in the third quarter, or 39.3% of employment, while rural employment stood at about 32.1 million.

About 1.9 million people were counted as having unused labour potential in the third quarter, equivalent to a rate of 3.6%. That measure covers unemployment, people who need more work, and some outside the labour force who want employment but face obstacles to searching or starting immediately.

The rate averaged 3.9% over the first nine months. It had reached 10.4% in the third quarter of 2021 during COVID-19, making the latest quarterly figure 6.8 percentage points lower.

Vietnam is therefore expanding employment while some young people struggle to gain a foothold. The policy challenge involves both creating jobs and making the route into those jobs easier to navigate.

A worker database and training tied to demand

The Ministry of Home Affairs is implementing the 2025 Law on Employment and accompanying guidance. Hai also identified tasks under Conclusion 62-KL/TW, concerning productivity and labour market development, and Notice 123-KL/TW, concerning sustainable employment in rural and urban areas, ethnic minority communities and workforce training.

The ministry plans to monitor domestic and international labour markets and improve its analysis and forecasting. Better forecasts would help training institutions understand where demand is growing and help young people choose courses with a clearer view of possible employment.

A worker database is being developed with connections to national and sector databases and the national employment exchange. Its stated purpose is to improve matching between people seeking work and employers seeking staff.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training to bring vocational courses closer to labour market needs. Public employment services are to work with schools, businesses and local authorities on career counselling, guidance and job placement, especially for students and recent graduates.

Hai also outlined efforts to improve the preparation and skills of young Vietnamese taking jobs abroad under employment contracts. The October 15 statement gave no numerical target for reducing the NEET group or completion date for the connected worker database.

Research and business support offer other routes

The dialogue also addressed how young people could create employment through research and business. Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan said outstanding doctoral researchers could receive support of up to 1 billion VND a year for three years.

Quan described a programme supporting AI adoption by businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, with funding of up to 3 billion VND. It aims to help young AI specialists develop ideas with companies to improve productivity and quality, with successful initiatives potentially receiving investment over a longer period.

Deputy Finance Minister Ta Anh Tuan discussed financial and tax policies associated with Politburo Resolution 68 on private sector development. The measures described included raising the annual revenue threshold for tax exemption for household businesses to 1 billion VND and a 30% reduction in personal and corporate income taxes for eligible entities with annual revenue below 10 billion VND.

Tuan also said a draft Law on Small and Medium Enterprise Development had been submitted to the National Assembly for consideration at its October session. Its aims include better access to capital, simpler procedures and stronger connections between startups, investors and larger companies.

Research grants and business support address a different part of the employment challenge from basic vocational courses. The dialogue linked both to the same objective: creating opportunities for people with different skills and educational backgrounds.

Confidence and support matter alongside vacancies

Lecturer Pham Hoa Hiep described how repeated rejection and a mismatch between education and employment can leave some young people isolated and unsure whether further study will help. He recounted the experience of Minh, a business administration graduate in Ho Chi Minh City who had withdrawn from friends after struggling to find suitable work.

According to Hiep, Minh resisted suggestions from his parents that he study another field. The graduate expressed his doubts about the value of returning to education:

What is the point of studying when there is AI?

Hiep proposed short apprenticeships, courses lasting four to six weeks in practical subjects such as office computing or online sales, and psychological support alongside career counselling. He also argued for families to set small, realistic goals with young people rather than demand immediate career success.

Those proposals complement the government's focus on skills and job matching by addressing the confidence needed to take a first step. A recent graduate awaiting an interview, a rural school leaver without technical training and a young person who has become isolated may need different forms of help to enter work or learning.

Key Points

• About 1.6 million Vietnamese aged 15 to 24 were outside employment, education and training in the third quarter of 2026, representing 11.2% of that age group.
• The count rose by approximately 195,100 from the previous quarter, partly because graduates were moving from education into work.
• Youth unemployment reached 9.07%, compared with a national rate of 2.22%.
• April statistics showed nearly 70% of the NEET group lived in rural areas and 87% had no technical training.
• The government is pursuing better career guidance, training aligned with employers' needs, labour market forecasting and connected worker data.
• Nearly 53 million people were employed nationally in the third quarter, showing that broader job growth continued alongside difficulties for young entrants.