About 75 percent of Vietnamese graduates have either started their own business or are interested in opening one. A survey released Tuesday by Navigos, a leading provider of executive search services in Vietnam, also found hat 52 percent of fresh graduates want to attempt a startup in the near future.
One in five respondents, or 22 percent, said they have attempted a startup at least once before. Only 26 percent said that they have no plans for a start-up. The survey polled over 1,600 fresh graduates with less than two years of working experience.
It found that a high number of fresh graduates are not satisfied with their current salaries, incentives and promotion opportunities.
On a scale of five, they rated their satisfaction with salary at 2.95, and incentives at 2.99. Long-term development opportunities scored lowest at 2.88.
Salaries and incentives are important factors for graduates in choosing their first jobs. Seventy percent of respondents selected “income and welfare policies” as one of the top criteria for job selection.
Compatibility with personal strengths came second at 55 percent, while career prospects and opportunities for development come third and fourth at 53 percent and 52 percent respectively.
The majority of fresh graduates, 34 percent, make VND5-7 million ($215-300) a month. Twenty-nine percent said their monthly salaries were VND7-10 million ($300-430). Only 12 percent made VND10 million ($430) or higher.
The survey also found that candidates who are proficient in foreign languages have higher salaries. Only five percent of those whose jobs don’t require foreign language skills earn VND10 million ($430) or higher, while this figure is 37 percent among candidates who can speak another language.
Young employees changed jobs more frequently, posing a retention challenge for employers. Eighty-one percent of the respondents said that “jumping jobs” helps them avoid wasting time on unsuitable or unsatisfactory positions.
Forty-three percent claimed that switching jobs helped them gain diverse working experience and expand networks.
Although young candidates value high salaries and benefit packages when choosing jobs, 57 percent said higher earnings was not the motivation for jumping jobs.
Of the respondents who’d quit their jobs, 45 percent said the reason was personal plans like education or family issues.
Four out of ten graduates said that they quit because they didn’t like their daily tasks, while almost one in four said they could not fit in with the corporate culture.