Dr Jung Woo Han, Senior Program Manager for Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship at RMIT University said: “The world of work is changing rapidly. Owing to the disruption caused by technology, companies must create comprehensive and effective workforce strategies. That will be extremely critical in this digital age.”
However, the major issues that most employers are facing are related to the skills available in the Vietnamese market.
The analytical and digital skills of Vietnamese have improved over time. Still, 61 per cent of the companies believe that they are unable to find the right skilled people at the right time, according to a TalentNet survey. There are very few ready-to-hire candidates available in the country. According to the survey, organisations prioritise employing highly skilled staff when rebuilding their workforce following change programs. However, it is astounding to observe how tough it is for businesses to find skilled professionals.
“Outsourcing has been the main option to fill the skilled worker requirements. It is effective, but also costly and offers a slow learning curve for Vietnamese employees,” said Dr Velasquez.
Ms Tran Thu Thao, Talent Acquisition and Training Executive at Navigos Group said “According to Navigos Group's 2024 Salary and Labor Market Report, new jobs in the future are inclined towards technology, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Therefore, occupational groups related to information technology, engineering, and computer science will continue to have a shortage of human resources in the future, especially high-quality human resources.”
The hospitality and tourism industry is also facing the biggest challenge in hiring skilled workers. One of the reasons is the decline in students' registration in the tourism course. This trend was observed before the pandemic, however, still students are not attracted to the tourism industry in Vietnam. People from other industries are recruited to fulfill the demands, but the skills gap remains. It needs highly skilled people at all levels to satisfy customer expectations and serve them better.
Manufacturing and healthcare are the other industries that are facing a skills shortage. One of the primary causes of this skill disparity is that Vietnamese education continues to experience difficulties keeping up with the demands of the modern global economy.
The growing demand for foreign languages is another challenge. Still a small portion of the Vietnamese workforce is fluent in English language.
