As the summer months roll in, the labor markets in both Hanoi and China reveal a complex portrait of recovery, opportunity, and challenge. While Hanoi’s job scene is rebounding with optimism, China’s newest graduates face a daunting reality, caught between soaring expectations and a tough job market.
In Hanoi, the first half of 2025 has seen a significant revival in the labor market, largely thanks to government policies supporting private enterprises and streamlining administrative processes. According to reports, June alone witnessed a surge in recruitment demand, with over 68,000 job openings citywide. This uptick reflects businesses gearing up to meet production and service goals for the latter half of the year, especially in trade, services, and tourism sectors.
Popular roles in Hanoi include sales staff, cashiers, business personnel, customer service representatives, and technical installation and maintenance technicians. Notably, the demand for candidates with university degrees or higher has climbed to 42.6%, signaling an increasing preference for skilled labor. Salaries typically range from 5 to 10 million Vietnamese dong, with more specialized or experienced positions commanding between 10 and 20 million dong.
Yet beneath this growth lies a persistent challenge: a glaring shortage of unskilled labor, particularly in construction. Mr. Vu Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center, highlighted that despite generous pay—sometimes exceeding 10 million dong—finding construction workers remains incredibly difficult. He explained, “Laborers in construction prefer lighter jobs now due to changing living standards. Sometimes, recruiting unskilled workers is even harder than filling skilled positions.”
Looking ahead, Hanoi’s labor market is expected to maintain steady growth into July, driven by tourism, services, public investment, and foreign direct investment. Sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, tourism, and commerce are projected to have strong labor needs. However, looming challenges include potential U.S. tariffs on key Vietnamese exports such as textiles, footwear, wood, and electronics, which could pressure companies to cut jobs—especially for unskilled workers. Additionally, a rise in business closures signals a risk of job losses or the need for workers to shift careers, underscoring the necessity for flexible workforce development strategies.
Meanwhile, across the border in China, the graduation season from late June to mid-July brings a record-breaking 12.2 million new graduates into an unforgiving job market. For many, like 23-year-old Ou Muoli, the journey from cap toss to career is anything but smooth. A finance and international trade graduate from Henan University, Ou has applied to over 100 jobs in Shenzhen since March 2025. Despite her clear criteria—a stable job with a monthly salary around 5,000 yuan (approximately 700 USD), weekends off, and comprehensive social benefits—her search has been met mostly with positions outside her field, such as teaching or sales.
She laments the catch-22 faced by many fresh graduates: “Administrative, HR, and marketing roles all require experience. How can a new graduate like me have that?”
China’s labor market paradox is stark. On paper, opportunities abound, especially in five fast-growing industries—wind energy, solar power, drones, artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, and biopharmaceuticals—that are expected to require over 12 million workers by 2025. The manufacturing sector, a backbone of the economy, faces a shortage of nearly 30 million workers. The government proudly reports that since the 14th Five-Year Plan, over 12 million new urban jobs have been created annually.
Yet the reality is far more complicated. Youth unemployment remains high, with rates of 15% for those aged 16-24 and 7% for those aged 25-29 as of May 2025—both higher than the previous year. Experts like Zhao Litao, a senior researcher at the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore, attribute this to a mismatch between young people’s skills and aspirations and the actual demands of the job market. “Many jobs exist, but they are unattractive or incompatible with the social status and capabilities that graduates seek,” he explains.
This mismatch is compounded by young people’s preference for glamorous, urban jobs. Li Fei, Academic Director at Zhejiang University, observes, “Young people want stability, good pay, and work-life balance, but face slow economic growth, tough business environments, rapid technological change, and a flood of low-wage, repetitive service jobs.”
Even cutting-edge sectors like AI and clean energy aren’t as accessible as imagined. Cai Bao, a 22-year-old computer science graduate from North China University, shared his struggle on social media after submitting nearly 1,000 applications with little response. He pointed out that outdated university curricula and the stigma of attending less prestigious schools hinder graduates’ prospects. “Employers can tell just by looking at your resume,” he said.
For many, the frustration leads to tough choices. Only 15% of Xu Yiling’s 2025 graduating class from CUHK-Shenzhen entered the job market immediately; most opted for further studies abroad. Xu herself, after applying to 80 jobs and receiving three offers, accepted a strategic planning management role at Vivo in Dongguan. “It felt like everything was falling into place,” she said, though she acknowledges she is among the lucky few.
Financial and emotional pressures weigh heavily on those without safety nets. Professor Zhou Yun of the University of Michigan notes that unemployment or unstable jobs can be a psychological burden for young people lacking family support. Professor Chen Jie from CUHK-Shenzhen warns that even advanced degrees don’t guarantee success, as the market saturates with highly educated individuals forced into ordinary jobs. This mismatch wastes talent and fuels anxiety, sometimes leading to social withdrawal or fierce internal competition.
Geography also plays a role. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen remain magnets for young talent, while central and western regions lag behind. Tencent’s massive recruitment drive—28,000 internships over three years, with 10,000 in 2025 focused on AI, cloud computing, and digital content—underscores the concentration of opportunities in tech hubs. Guangdong’s Greater Bay Area, boasting a GDP exceeding 14 trillion yuan (about one-ninth of the national total), offers generous incentives like living subsidies and free housing to attract talent. Yet experts caution these perks are short-term fixes without addressing the core need for quality jobs.
Human resources manager Zhen Rong from China Chengtong logistics company sums up the dilemma: “Many fresh graduates don’t know what they want or can do, but their expectations are high. It’s not that jobs don’t exist; it’s that they can’t find jobs they consider suitable.” Both Zhao Litao and Chen Jie call for deep reforms in education and training, urging stronger ties between universities and businesses to provide meaningful internships and career guidance.
Back in Shenzhen, Ou Muoli continues her search, declining jobs requiring six-day workweeks, unpaid overtime, or late nights. She refreshes job portals daily, clinging to the hope of a decent opportunity. “Maybe I expected too much and that’s why I’m unemployed,” she muses. “Perhaps… I’ll take a sales job.”
From Hanoi’s cautious optimism to China’s sobering graduate reality, the labor markets reveal the intricate dance between economic forces, individual aspirations, and structural challenges. Both regions face the critical task of aligning skills, opportunities, and expectations to build resilient, inclusive workforces for the future.
