The figures come from the first-quarter labor market report by the Ho Chi Minh City Employment Service Center. While overall demand exceeds labor supply, businesses prefer younger workers.
Data collected from the center’s headquarters and affiliated offices shows only 52,600 people sought jobs while companies needed 82,700 hires.
But distribution remained uneven across age groups, skill levels and industries.
The 36-49 age group had the most applicants, nearly 21,000, even higher than the 25-35 group, which accounted for 38%.
But positions targeting the 36-49 group accounted for a mere 0.32%.
Employers prioritized applicants aged 18-35.
Workers apply for unemployment benefits at the Ho Chi Minh City Employment Service Center. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung.
Explaining the trend, Nguyen Van Hanh Thuc, the center’s director, said middle-aged job seekers tend to have experience and often seek new opportunities to improve their income or working conditions while the segment with the greatest demand for workers is the low-skilled one at more than 33%.
Employers did not have high requirements in terms of qualifications in Q1, with 82% of job openings asking only for high school education or less, Thuc said.
Most of the employers were in industrial parks or export processing zones, where younger workers, seen as more adaptable to different conditions, are preferred, she said.
The mismatch between supply and demand has created challenges for middle-aged workers, and some, despite their experience, struggle to meet the changing market needs, particularly in manufacturing, which requires hands-on skills, and technical fields since they need technological adaptability, she said.
But the situation is not necessarily alarming, she said.
For experienced and skilled workers, job opportunities often arise through personal networks or specialized recruitment channels, and more than 58% of available positions do not stipulate age limits, she pointed out.
Certain sectors such as manufacturing, maintenance and machine operation continue to face shortages of skilled labor, making them suitable for experienced workers, she said.
She added that in the current quarter hiring demand is expected to number 60,000-75,000 as businesses ramp up production, but labor supply could decline slightly as workers prioritize job stability following the post-Tet turnover.