Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Despite having an abundant labour force, Vietnam still lacks skilled technical workers, while many workers struggle to find suitable jobs.
The gap between training and market demand is becoming a bottleneck for productivity and investment attraction.
For many years, a plentiful labour force has been considered one of Vietnam’s advantages.
However, as the country aims for double-digit growth, limitations are emerging.
The shortage of highly skilled workers and inadequate skill levels to meet production demands have left many businesses in dire need of technical personnel.
Many enterprises are facing difficulties in recruiting highly skilled workers.
According to Dr Bui Sy Loi, former vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, this reflects a shortage of high-quality human resources.
Vietnam’s labour supply is not lacking in quantity but is limited in skills and qualifications.
As the production structure rapidly shifts toward new technologies and models, businesses increasingly require skilled workers, while the training system has yet to catch up. As a result, the labour market faces a paradox: an oversupply of unskilled labour but a shortage of technical workers.
Loi said the shortage of highly skilled labour stemmed from a lack of long-term vision in training, with insufficient preparation for emerging industries. While the economic and industrial structure was changing rapidly, both regulators and businesses had limited capacity to forecast labour demand.
The biggest bottleneck lay in the mismatch between training supply and labour demand, making training less proactive and unable to keep pace with market shifts, he said.
He emphasised the need for closer coordination between training institutions and businesses. Training should be conducted based on market demand and real business needs.
“When training is tailored to specific market demands, the quality of human resources will improve and training waste will be reduced,” Loi said.
The shortage of skilled labour was also directly affecting labour productivity and national competitiveness. Productivity could only truly improve when science and technology are applied to reduce costs and increase product value within the same time frame, he said.
He also highlighted the need to strengthen labour forecasting capacity to support digital transformation, restructure the training system, and assign roles among institutions to focus on their strengths while ensuring labour supply-demand balance.
Businesses must be more proactive in workforce planning, anticipating industry trends in the coming years to train or retrain workers accordingly, he said.
According to Dr Nguyen Tri Hieu, an economist, with a population of around 100 million, about 60%, roughly 60 million people, are in the labour force. However, most are unskilled workers who can perform various jobs but lack formal professional training.
Vietnam has yet to develop a comprehensive policy framework for training high-skilled labour. For years, industrial parks and businesses have mainly recruited unskilled workers for repetitive, low-skill jobs, resulting in insufficient attention to workforce training and skill upgrading.
“We have the advantage of a large labour force and relatively low labour costs compared to many countries in the region," he said.
"Yet the paradox is that highly skilled and specialised workers remain scarce.”
In addition to policy factors, working conditions and learning opportunities remain limited, according to Hieu. Many workers migrating from rural areas to cities focus on earning a living, leaving little room for vocational training or skill development.
Many businesses have not made systematic investments in workforce training, relying instead on short-term training to meet immediate needs. This leads to an oversupply of unskilled labour but a shortage of skilled workers.
Foreign investors coming to Vietnam often seek technically qualified workers, particularly in high-tech, engineering and healthcare sectors, but face difficulties in finding suitable candidates.
Another major barrier is foreign language proficiency.
“In the context of globalisation, English has become an international language, yet many Vietnamese workers still have limited language skills," Hieu said.
"This affects their ability to work in international environments.”
To address these challenges, Hieu suggested that Vietnam develop a national strategy for human resource development, particularly for high-skilled labour. Priority should be given to strengthening foreign language training, with English widely promoted as a key language in both general and vocational education.
Vocational training centres should be expanded with in-depth programmes aligned with labour market needs. Training should go beyond basic knowledge to include specialised courses, even delivered in English, enabling workers to operate in international environments, he said.
He also recommended that businesses, especially large enterprises, take a more proactive role in training and upgrading workers’ skills. With long-term investment in training and the development of a professional workforce, the labour market can gradually improve and better meet the demands of economic growth./.
