Human resources are one of the important criterias, which determines the development speed of a country. Among Asian countries, Vietnam has now been attracting a lot of attention from foreign investment enterprises. Partly because of abundant resources, with many development directions (such as production, processing,etc.), it’s because of the quality of our labor force in Vietnam. Let’s take a look into Vietnam human resources with KTG Industrial.
The role of human resources in industrial development
Vietnam is on the path of remarkable growth, and the huge contribution of human resources in general (especially high-quality human resources in particular) cannot be denied. The reason is that if this endogenous resource is properly promoted, it will continue to grow sustainably. Thanks to that, Vietnam can steadily grow without relying on exogenous potentials to recover (such as weather, minerals, etc.).
At the same time, facing the goal of Industrialization – Modernization, Vietnamese Government recognizes the importance of continuously training high-quality human resources. Instead of manual labor, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive; nowadays, workforce can utilize modern machinery to enhance efficiency. As a result, the production of goods for both domestic and export markets remains consistent and uninterrupted.
Human resources play an important role in the economic and industrial development
A look into Vietnam current human resources
Recognizing the indispensable role of human resources in the country’s stable growth. Enterprises that are present in Vietnam or planning to invest should clearly recognize the advantages of this group to create the best development conditions:
Young labor force
The rate of young labor in Vietnam is higher than in many other countries in the region. According to information in 2024 from the General Statistics Office, Vietnam has about 53.0 million workers aged 15 and over (increased to 575.4 thousand people compared to 2023) [1].
In addition, if we consider the economic sector to allocate workers, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector has 13.7 million people; industry and construction has 17.4 million people and services has 20.8 million people. At the same time, the number of unemployed people gradually decreased (down to 846.8 thousand people, decreased 74.4 thousand people compared to 2023) [1].
Labor productivity is increasingly improved
In 2024, figure of 221.9 million VND per worker (increased over 726 USD compared to 2023), demonstrates that an increase in the number of workers does not lead to higher labor productivity. Productivity is influenced by technology and skills, not merely the number of workers. Additionally, the majority of income is derived from the industrial, construction, and commercial and tourism services sectors.
Labor productivity of Vietnamese workers has improved significantly over the years
Quality is improving
The quality of work in Vietnamese workers has improved significantly, enabling them to directly operate complex production stages. In addition, Vietnamese human resources are proactive to adapt new technologies to maximize efficiency and working time.
Professional qualifications and skills are enhanced
Data shows that labor productivity increases in 2024 is largely based on the improvement of workers’ qualifications. Specifically, the rate of workers with full degrees and certificates rose to 28.3%, increased 1.1% from 2023.
Some challenges for Vietnam human resources in Vietnam
When it comes to human resources, both quality and structure are important to involve In each of aspects, Vietnam still faces to some challenges that need to be thoroughly addressed.
Uneven population distribution
Vietnam’s population has clear differences in each region, with the majority in urban areas and quite a few in rural areas (especially in mountainous and midland areas). This is the leading cause of uneven economic development in each region, posing many challenges for the government in how to ensure stable growth throughout the year.
In addition, the imbalance in population also inadvertently affects the quality of training, occupational structure,… causing resources to not be fully utilized.
Limited foreign language skills and collaboration
Vietnamese workers are mainly skilled workers, that’s why the limited foreign language skills hinder them from integrating effectively. In addition, workers focus on their daily tasks rather than acknowledge new experience from their peers or collaborating to create a more efficient workflow.
The foreign language skills of Vietnamese workers are challenging them to other nations.
Low discipline
Previously, most workers in Vietnam started their jobs in the agricultural sector. Therefore, they were accustomed to a working style that depended on their own health and mindset, leading to low discipline. In addition, the workforce was not proactive in collaborating or taking collective responsibility, making them reluctant to share personal opinions.
However, this is improving as most businesses simplify and automate production processes, making more professional workforce. As a result workers consistently maintain a careful and highly disciplined working attitude to meet job requirements effectively.
High competition
In fact, in Vietnam, the number of unskilled workers is increasing but there is a shortage of good managers, scientific researchers or early-day experts. Therefore, Vietnam is not competitive enough in terms of human resources compared to other countries in the world. This has been confirmed when a report confirmed that Vietnam’s labor productivity in 2020 was 7 times lower than Malaysia, 4 times lower than China, 3 times lower than Thailand, 2 times lower than the Philippines and 26 times lower than Singapore [2].
Difficult to integrate
Vietnamese students after graduation often have problems integrating into the new working environment. This was clearly demonstrated through the seminar “Boosting Employability: Strengthening universities to make graduates fit for work” with the opinion of Dr. Nguyen Trung Dung (lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology) about students lacking skills and practical work experience.
This can be explained by the fact that students mainly only learn theoretical knowledge at school and do not have the opportunity to apply it regularly in practice. Therefore, although their professional knowledge is solid, their practical experience seems to be zero, causing students to spend a lot of time getting used to the new milestone, slowing down Vietnam’s economic development process.
Solutions for human resource development in Vietnam
Since the 11th Congress (2011), the Party and State of Vietnam have emphasized the importance of developing and improving the quality of human resources. For that reason, Vietnam has continuously applied many solutions to improve the quality of sustainable human resources such as:
- Improving the quality of education and training, focusing on digital transformation and modernizing facilities and equipment at the university level as well as vocational education.
- Completing mechanisms and policies to attract investors as soon as possible.
- Planning to use labor reasonably and promoting the potential of each person.
- Promote research and forecasting on vocational training, especially in fields related to science, technology, etc.
- Consider allocating industry structure, human resources, human resource qualifications, etc. appropriately to meet training needs in all regions of the country.
- Continue to cooperate with the governments of Korea, Germany, Italy and Japan in implementing ODA projects.
The above are all the advantages of Vietnam’s current human resources along with the limitations that must be recognized early to find appropriate ways to face and overcome. Thanks to that, the country is increasingly developing sustainably and strongly, helping to catch up with the pace of industrialization and modernization.
