Connecting jobs, bringing 1.6 million "3-no" youth back to the labor market

Real-life picture in localities

According to the Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance), in the third quarter of 2026, the whole country had about 1.6 million young people aged 15-24 who were uneducated, unemployed and did not participate in training, accounting for 11.2%, an increase of more than 195,000 people compared to the previous quarter. This situation poses a requirement to improve the effectiveness of career guidance, training and job connection.

Records in the eastern area of Ho Chi Minh City show that some communes and wards have young people belonging to the "3 no" group. Phuoc Thang ward alone recorded about 126 cases, including 40 housewives and 23 people with disabilities.

The locality has assigned the Youth Union to provide job counseling, introduce vocational training and coordinate with the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to support business loans, up to 200 million VND.

Each "3 no" youth has their own circumstances. Mr. N.D. D.K (born in 2003, Phuoc Thang ward) has been disabled since childhood and cannot go to school. Meanwhile, Ms. Cam Tien (born in 2004, Tam Thang ward) had to quit her job since she was pregnant due to poor health, and cannot currently go to work because her child is still young. She plans to learn a trade or find a suitable job when her child is stronger to help support the family economy.

In the Binh Duong area (formerly), a part of young people fell into the "3 no" group due to lack of career orientation, skills not meeting recruitment needs.

Mr. Do Van Phung - Director of Binh Duong Youth Activity Center informed that many young people only work seasonally, driving motorbike taxis, selling lottery tickets to have immediate income. The Center regularly organizes career guidance, skills training, counseling and job connection, helping young people have stable job opportunities at businesses.

Identifying bottlenecks and solutions to restore trust

Dr. Dang Minh Su - Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Vocational Education Association, said that the figure of 1.6 million "3 no" youth is worrying and needs to be viewed from the perspective of education, employment and social security. In particular, immigrant youth face many difficulties in housing, living expenses, employment and access to support policies. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly identify the circumstances, causes and needs of each group to have appropriate solutions.

Mr. Su pointed out 3 main bottlenecks: Family economic pressure: Having to drop out of school early to work, but due to lack of qualifications, they mainly do simple, low-income, unstable jobs.

Limitations in career guidance and stratification: Not fully oriented in terms of capacity and strengths; the psychology of considering vocational training as a secondary choice makes many students miss opportunities.

Skill and psychological barriers: Lack of qualifications and skills leads to difficulty meeting recruitment requirements. Successive failures create self-doubt, loss of motivation and reluctance to return to school, creating a vicious circle.

Dr. Dang Minh Su emphasized that for "3 no's" youth to return to studying and working, first of all, it is necessary to help them restore their trust. He proposed direct access to residential areas, boarding houses, and industrial parks for counseling and psychological support; deploying the model "One youth - One companion - One development roadmap" in the spirit of no discrimination or imposition.

To solve sustainably, Dr. Dang Minh Su proposed that Ho Chi Minh City strengthen coordination between the education sector, internal affairs, government, unions, vocational training institutions and businesses. The focus is on early detection of the risk of dropping out of school, improving career orientation efficiency, supporting disadvantaged youth, connecting training with recruitment needs and creating jobs after training.

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