French firms prioritise skilled employees

BigC - Binh Duong

One example is giant retailer Big C. Human Resource Section’s director Serge Cao said BigC had just opened its 22nd supermarket in Vietnam, in southern Binh Duong province, where it simultaneously opened its 21st commercial centre.

“We will open more supermarkets and commercial centres in Vietnam. This means we will continue recruiting many more local employees,” Cao said.

At present, BigC stably has over 8,000 employees in Vietnam, including 230 managers with 40 foreign ones.

“Besides allowance and pay raise possibilities, those able to speak foreign languages will be promoted quicker. When we receive their application forms, we ask them whether they can speak foreign languages like French, English or Chinese well,” Cao said. “If they can, they are immediately accepted to work for BigC.

“After that, those who show a passion for the work and some other skills, will be trained for months to become managers,” he said.

Antoine Lhuguenot, general manager at French-backed Sofitel Plaza Hanoi Hotel, said French-invested hotel developer Accor group, which managed this hotel, would open two high-end hotels in Vietnam by late this year, raising Accor’s number of total high-end hotels in the country to 16.

“We have high demand for local employees,” he said. “Our employees are trained professionally after they are recruited. Those having passion in work and good command of foreign languages will get chances of promotion transparently.

“Our training courses are organised both locally and abroad, with updated lessons both theoretically and practically. We have also provided 12 scholarships to Vietnamese staff to study abroad. Attractive vacations and festivals are also annually organised for all staff,” he said.

Sofitel Plaza currently has 3,200 employees in Vietnam, with 1,500 in Hanoi and 450 in Sofitel Plaza Hanoi.

Diederick Douellou, head of Hanoi office of French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, said many French firms in Vietnam considered employees the key for their success in the country, but local employees should improve their capabilities if they wanted to work for a foreign firm for a long term.

“I am sure that those who can speak foreign languages and have good skills in communications and computing will get promoted and well-paid quicker than those who don’t. Our chamber has 277 operational member companies offering promotion opportunities for all qualified staff transparently,” Douellou said.

He said almost French firms had a good strategy in using staff in the most suitable manner. “The absence of such a strategy means the firm will have no loyal employees and have to pay much for recruiting workers, while workers often seek employers giving them good benefits.”

Do Khac Quynh, a representative from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, reported that Vietnam had two million jobless people last year, of whom 60 per cent were young people.

“The majority of graduates in Vietnam cannot speak a foreign language fluently and have no skill in dealing with practical situation,” he said. “Many have excellent diplomas but they cannot land a job in a local enterprise, let alone a foreign one.”