At the September 27 Business Involvement in Developing Professional Skills for Young Workers dialogue, Ms. Tran Thi Lan Anh, Secretary-General of Vietnam’s Confederation of Trade and Industry (VCCI), said the global competitiveness report at the World Economic Forum in 2019 has placed Vietnam’s global competitiveness index 77 improved to the best level in the world, ranked 67th out of 141 economies in the world.

VIETNAM WORK WORK IS ACCORDING TO SOFT SKILLS

It is noteworthy that among the 12 pillars and 103 criteria of the Global Competitiveness Index, the pillar of skills has risen by 4 places, in particular the criterion of the quality of vocational training has risen by 13 places. Labor productivity in Vietnam has been improving in the ASEAN region in recent years, reaching an average of 4.77% per year, proving that workers’ skill levels have been gradually improved and upgraded.

However, the youth unemployment rate between 15 and 24 years old was 8.48%, an increase of 0.52 percentage points compared to the previous year. The youth unemployment rate in the cities was 11.91% and thus 1.33 percentage points above the previous year.

“In general, the labor market still faces many difficulties, especially young workers need special attention in training and skill development,” said Ms. Lan Anh.

Presenting a picture of Vietnam’s labor force, Nguyen Thi Thuan, former acting rector of the University of Labour, Disability and Welfare, said that there are currently 50.7 million people of working age, accounting for 69% of the population. The rate of skilled workers reaches 70%, but only 24.5% have professional qualifications. Around 1.5 to 1.6 million young people reach working age every year.

However, it is predicted that by 2026 around 40% of skilled workers will no longer be suitable for current jobs. 30% of workers are forced to change jobs.

Improving the skills of workers needs to be implemented when the survey shows that most of the candidates for positions such as skilled workers, technicians and craftsmen in companies lack the necessary skills, with rates of 80%, 83% and 40%, respectively.

Ha Nam Khanh Giao, University of Finance – Marketing, cited Assoc’s report on soft skills requirements of workers in the integration phase. Prof. Dr. 83% of graduates are assessed as having a lack of soft skills. 37% of the students could not find a suitable job due to poor qualifications.

40% need to be looked after at work. 41% need adjustment time. 50% of workers who graduate from high school don’t have the skills they need; University graduates do not meet the needs of companies either. 13% need to be retrained or supplemented with skills.

Foreign organizations in Vietnam have also commented that Vietnamese workers lack soft skills for the job. Most overseas companies need to retrain before using. 80% of office workers in Vietnam are unskilled.

Ms. Vu Thi Quyen, Founder and General Manager of We Edit Company, explained that young people are indeed still lacking soft skills to accompany companies. Business leaders feel very “lonely” when working with employees who lack soft skills.

Companies face many difficulties when it comes to introducing young workers to work and communication. To simply present a Word or Excel file, there has to be someone who “hands on” for young workers.

NEED PRIVATE SECTOR AND GOVERNMENT COOPERATION

Business leaders all agree that along with hard skills, soft skills account for 75% of employee success. The most basic and necessary skills for employees are communication so that others can understand their ideas, coordination when working in a team, building relationships with partners, creative thinking, information technology and updating new knowledge … but many employees cannot fulfill them.

The VCCI representative said the world context is changing rapidly, especially in technology. Therefore, the young workforce must also be quickly equipped with soft skills, transformation skills and digital skills in order to be able to adapt to the requirements of Revolution 4.0.

The September 2020 VCCI and UNICEF study, “Assessing Job Skills Gaps and Business Best Practices for Improving Skills for Disadvantaged and At-Risk Youth” also showed that soft skills are becoming more valuable and necessary than technical skills globally through influence of digitization and automation.

Therefore, Ms. Lan Anh said, increasing labor productivity in the coming period must mainly rely on innovation factors and the application of new scientific and technological advances. If you want to be innovative and creative, you need to pay attention to human resource development in general, especially to the development of professional skills of employees, especially young workers.

Ms. Lesley Miller, Deputy Representative of UNICEF in Vietnam, also acknowledged that research in Vietnam shows that many young people lack digital skills and digital transformation skills, and this situation is particularly serious for minors aged 15-18.

Developing soft skills from an early age, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork and communication skills, helps young people to become adaptable and flexible people, while also being an important complement to job-specific skills.

UNICEF highly values ​​the indispensable role of business in realizing the rights and ensuring the well-being of children and young people.

Businesses can play a leading role by identifying and addressing their impact on children and putting children’s rights for sustainable development into action. At the same time, use their strengths to mobilize and influence all stakeholders to come together to take action.

UNICEF’s experiences and studies also show that the private sector has the voice, capacity, resources and innovation to work with governments, communities and youth to influence policies and develop programs that are effective, scalable, sustainable and meet the current and future needs of the labor market.