Pham Thanh Long (23 years old, from Bac Ninh) graduated from Hanoi Open University in June 2022 with a good degree in Accounting. He quickly found a job at an aluminum and stainless steel manufacturing company with a starting salary of 7 million VND/month.

When he was a student, his family gave Long 4 million VND per month for living expenses (rent, food, transportation...). "If he tried hard, he would have enough, but if he went over budget, he would have to ask for more." Now that he's working, the cost of living has skyrocketed, and his monthly salary is not enough for this young man to cover his expenses.

"Every month, the rent alone costs nearly 2 million VND, plus food expenses, parties with colleagues, weddings, funerals... I can't save any money," Long said. Not to mention, he also had to invest more to attend advanced accounting and tax classes because the knowledge taught in school was not enough to meet the job requirements.

After a year of working, Long's salary increased to 10 million VND/month, but it was still like a drop in the ocean, not enough to cover his daily living and work needs. He even borrowed nearly 100 million VND from his parents to study to improve his skills, but he still has no ability to repay the debt.

Last month, Long decided to apply for a leave of absence to become a freelancer. "My parents objected to my choice because they thought that driving a motorbike taxi had no future and that the job was unstable," the student said.

Every day, Long starts working from 6am to 9pm before turning off the app to go home, fatigue clearly visible on his face. However, the salary he receives is quite generous, enough to take care of himself and have a little extra.

In the first month of working, Long's total income was up to 18 million VND. After deducting all living expenses, he saved the first 10 million since leaving university.

"There were times when I was skeptical about this choice, but I still put it aside because I didn't want to go back to my accounting job of working 9-10 hours a day with a meager salary. Above all, working as a motorbike taxi driver gives me more flexibility in my schedule. When I get home at night and am too tired, I can sleep without having to think too much about numbers, work, and relationships at work," Long said.

After graduating from Hanoi National University of Education in August 2021, Le Minh Phuong (24 years old, from Nghe An) applied to teach elementary school at a school near her home to be close to her parents.

As a contract teacher, Phuong receives a salary of nearly 4 million VND/month. The first month he received his salary, the young man was very happy because he was both close to his family and able to live his passion.

However, the reality is not rosy, his small salary is only enough to pay for the family's electricity bill, and he cannot buy anything else, he completely depends on his parents for food and living.

Phuong limited his socializing with friends because he had no money. His parents were worried about their son. They had hoped he would earn more money so they could think about getting married.

Many sleepless nights to complete books and lesson plans, Phuong thought about where his teaching career would go. Among the students who graduated with him, only 4-5 people followed the profession, and their income was not much better.

Sometimes, seeing his peers building houses and buying cars made him feel sad. The worst part was during the months when there were many weddings and his salary was gone. Seeing that his salary was low, Phuong decided to quit his job after 2 years of teaching.

"To make this decision, I thought a lot. This is the job I dreamed of since I was a child, but looking at my family's situation and current salary forced me to choose to stop," Phuong confided.

The first thing Phuong did when he returned to Hanoi was to register to work as a motorbike taxi driver. Driving all day from 7am to 10pm, he earned about 600,000 VND. Every month, if he worked hard, he could earn 15-17 million VND. This income was much higher than his previous teaching job, but he had to accept the hard work.

"I know that this job is hard and requires a lot of exposure to dust and smoke, which can affect my health, but I still have to try because I have parents and a younger brother in college," Phuong said. He currently has no intention of returning to teaching, his goal is just to run as many trips as possible every day.

Mr. Do Duc Long, lecturer at the Academy of Journalism and Communication, said that the rate of students working in a different field after graduation is quite common, which is completely normal in the current context. However, what is worrying is that many students choose to work as motorbike taxi drivers instead of trying to find a more stable and suitable job.

To invest in their children's 4 years of university education, each family will spend on average 60 - 120 million VND/year. Thus, to graduate from school, the children have spent around 500 million VND from their parents.

However, when they start working, they choose the short-term profit path of driving a motorbike taxi, forgetting the long-term harm. Many students complain about the low salary after graduation, but they do not know that this salary can increase 3-5 times after a few years. At the same time, driving a motorbike taxi for a long time will greatly affect health.

"New graduates need to try to invest in their own development, accept to work hard with low salaries, learn, accumulate knowledge, experience, and increase their self-worth. Only then will their income become more and more stable, helping them in the long term instead of choosing to work as a technology motorbike taxi driver," Mr. Long analyzed and said that he does not criticize those who work as technology motorbike taxi drivers, but they need to calculate long-term for the future, and should not waste a university degree.

Khanh Son