VIETNAM'S POOL OF SKILLED LABOR DRYING UP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000056 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IL STATE PASS USDOL DUS PONTICELLI, ZHAO STATE PASS USTR FOR BISBEE USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EAID ILO ECON ETRD VM SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S POOL OF SKILLED LABOR DRYING UP HANOI 00000056 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Summary: Vietnam has earned a reputation for its industrious, low-cost, and young labor force. Unprecedented economic growth, however, is imposing severe demands on Vietnam's labor market. With local and foreign investors draining the talent pool, Vietnam's labor force no longer confers the advantages that it once did. A shortage of qualified labor could hinder the country's economic development and experts agree that Vietnam must raise the overall quality of its labor force to sustain future economic growth. While the Government of Vietnam (GVN) acknowledges the situation and is making efforts to reform the country's system of higher education and vocational training, the immediate demand for skilled labor may overtake Vietnam's capacity to supply it. End Summary. ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES CANCEL ONE ANOTHER -------------- ¶2. The quality of Vietnam's human resources has improved markedly in the twenty years since the government launched its "doi moi" reform program. Today's labor force is relatively well educated (Vietnam has a 94 percent literacy rate including 97 percent literacy in the workforce) and industrious and Vietnamese cultural traditions emphasize learning and respect for authority. In addition, Vietnam has one of the youngest labor forces in Southeast Asia. According to statistics cited by Madam Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Vietnam's Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA),50 percent of Vietnam's 45.6 million strong workforce is under the age of 35. ¶3. Yet, Vietnam's inability to meet the labor demands of its fast-growing economy concerns both employers and the Vietnamese government, especially as foreign direct investment continues to rise in the wake of WTO accession. Although Vietnam created upwards of 1.6 million jobs annually from 2001-2006, the majority were low-skill, low-wage jobs. According to MOLISA, just one-third of Vietnam's total work force has undergone any sort of formal preparation, including vocational training and higher education. Vietnam's skilled workforce - which includes professional and skilled labor - comprises just 30 percent of the country's labor pool and there are fears that the situation could derail the country's continuing economic growth if not remedied in the near future. ¶4. As in much of Southeast Asia, Vietnam's number one challenge is finding sufficient professional staff to work in Vietnam's fast growing services sector, particularly in the areas of finance, accounting, and information technology. Vietnam is also experiencing a serious shortage of skilled and semi-skilled labor to fill construction, textile and tech-assembly jobs. Members of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance say that even high paying and high profile firms like Intel struggle to find sufficient staff for their assembly plants. The shortage of qualified labor has led to job-hopping and employee poaching, especially among the more highly skilled workers. As Vietnam's labor pool has tightened, strikes have increased dramatically, with workers walking off the job in record numbers, demanding higher wages, benefits, and bonuses to keep pace with Vietnam's increased cost of living. ¶5. The shortage of skilled workers is also disrupting the social fabric in many parts of the country. Just a small share of the indigenous work force in Dong Nai Province - one of the regions attracting a large share of Vietnam's Foreign Direct Investment - is qualified to work in Dong Nai's industrial and export processing zones. Seventy percent of Dong Nai's labor force comes from other areas of Vietnam and the thousands of additional workers pouring into the province have imposed strains on the local infrastructure, including a shortage of housing and schools. AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT FAILED TO KEEP UP -------------- ¶6. While there is a large pool of disenfranchised agricultural workers in rural areas where cultivable land is rapidly giving way to industrial development, relatively few of these people have the qualifications that employers need. With its low level of skilled labor and large rural population, Vietnam's labor market is ill structured to accommodate the rapid pace of urbanization and industrialization taking place in Vietnam. The country's reliance on agriculture is the source of many of the country's labor market woes. Over half of Vietnam's labor force toils in unskilled agricultural tasks and 72 percent of the country's population works and resides in the countryside. Workers who shift from agriculture to other sectors require intensive training, which is posing serious challenges to Vietnam's inadequate vocational training centers and obsolete system of higher education. ¶7. Tertiary education has many shortcomings. Vietnam's schools and HANOI 00000056 002.2 OF 002 universities employ an antiquated teaching methodology (a theory-intensive instructional style),lack qualified instructors, and have poor facilities. All of this exacerbates the widespread incongruity between skills and requirements in the country's job market. Vietnam's obsolete educational system is hindering the development of suitable managerial staff, and a director of VP Bank, a joint-stock commercial bank, said just 30 percent of students with finance degrees from Vietnamese universities are qualified to work for his bank. As well, a representative at Siemens Vietnam says 100 percent of the information technology graduates hired by the company require intensive training before starting work. ¶8. The GVN recognizes the structural weaknesses in Vietnam's labor market and educational system and hopes to increase the share of skilled workers in the labor force from 30 to 40 percent by 2010. With a new, energetic education minister, who also serves as one of Vietnam's five deputy prime ministers, Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan is scrutinizing Vietnam's teaching and examination methods with an eye to reform. His ministry, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET),seeks to transform Vietnam's rigid system of higher education into a flexible, market driven system, including attracting foreign expertise. A shift is underway, with MOET placing more focus on the rapidly developing service sector. ¶9. The GVN recently implemented a higher-education credit program to grant low interest loans to students. It will also provide scholarships to government officials and academics to help them pursue overseas study. In addition, the GVN aims to enhance bilateral cooperation with the United States, the UK and Australia to attract Fulbright, Chevening, and Australian Development Scholarships for Vietnamese students. Finally, MOLISA, the ministry that oversees vocational training, seeks to expand Vietnam's network of job training centers to address looming labor shortages in the steelwork, maritime, construction, and information technology sectors. MICHALAK