According to a survey by the leading recruitment website in Vietnam, VietnamWorks, owned by the Navigous Group, the demand for personnel is increasing in 2019, especially in foreign-owned companies. The labor market is undergoing a gradual shift from simple labor requirements to more highly-skilled and qualified ones. Here are some examples of where shortages will exist in Vietnam in 2019.
1. Information Technology
VietnamWorks has discovered that 53% of IT companies need to expand their workforce with from 10% to 30% in 2019, 26% of them from 30% to 50%, and 8.7% over 50%. An Institute of Information and Communications Strategy survey shows that only 15% of IT graduates meet minimum business recruitment requirements. At the advent of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, Vietnam will lack 240 thousand qualified employees by 2020, which will increase even more if Vietnam captures more of the worldwide IT market in interim.
2. Food technology
The Department of Trade Promotion of the Ministry of Trade estimates that the Vietnamese spend up to 15% of the GDP on foods. With a population of over 90 million people, the food industry in Vietnam is considered a great opportunity for local and foreign investors alike.
As a result, while national businesses have been actively investing in expanding their production, foreign enterprises have been increasing their massive investment in Vietnam and are now recruiting food researchers and developers in many various positions. Vacancies exist everywhere, from small to medium-size Vietnamese private businesses and state-owned institutions, to foreign ones.
3. Hospitality
Hospitality is one of Vietnam’s key economic sectors and the tourism, hotel and restaurant markets are developing more strongly than ever. In 2019, the Vietnamese hospitality sector is planning to receive about 18 million international and 85 million national tourists, putting a huge strain on the Hospitality sector, especially on human resources, still lacking skilled and highly-qualified personnel.
The Administration of Tourism states that the entire sector needs about 40 thousand more staff each year, although there are only about 15 thousand Hospitality graduates a year, with only 12% with a higher degree. Among the 1.3 million people working in hospitality nationwide, only 42% were trained in tourism, 38% trained in other fields, and about 20% only trained on the job.
4. Electronics
Because of the impact of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, Electronic Engineering companies in general, and electronic and telecommunications groups in particular, currently have the greatest requirement of all for qualified professionals.
However, the Ho Chi Minh city Center for Human Resource Forecasting and Market Information estimates that from 2020 to 2025, up to 16 thousand new hires will be required to maintain, operate and upgrade current systems. Large Chinese electronics manufacturers are relocating to Vietnam already and all require medium to high level employees.
5. Marketing
Nowadays, all sales, service and production companies require marketing teams to promote their brands to attract more customers and the need for those workers has become more urgent than ever.
Mr. Hermawan Kartajaya, former Chairman of the World Marketing Association, confirms that the demand for qualified marketers will continue to increase strongly, especially from foreign companies. Marketing has become a very popular field of study. However, those companies do not train new employees well and universities are still not graduating enough qualified staff either.
6. Construction
The development of a nation goes hand-in-hand with a demand for corresponding infrastructure. In Vietnam, international-standard architectural skills are required more and more in high-rise buildings, roads, railroads and public buildings.
Each year, Vietnam dedicates on average 30% to 40% of the GDP on infrastructure construction, industrial and trade zones, urbanization, cultural, educational and services development, requiring a huge number of people. Professional civil construction supervisors are always particularly sought after.
The 4.0 Industrial Revolution poses several major problems related the improvement of education standards to fill basic job opportunities. It requires new workers to adapt, use their knowledge and refine their skills. Choosing to study at a respected university will help students meet these highly stringent requirements on graduation.
