Improved digital human resources needed

In the November report, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that Vietnam currently had approximately 1.2 million employees in information technology (IT), but for workers with college degrees and above there were only about 550,000 people.

In the human resources structure, the ratio of information technology human resources to the total labour force was around 1 per cent. This is relatively low compared to 4 per cent in the US, 2.5 per cent in South Korea, and 1.78 per cent in India. Meanwhile, the number of students graduating from information technology majors, including colleges and universities, is only about 60,000 - 70,000 people each year.

Nguyen Manh Dung, general partner of Do Ventures, said the demand for IT human resources for technology companies had increased dramatically during the pandemic. Many countries worldwide are ready to recruit workers in Vietnam, India, the Philippines, and China, aiming to reduce costs. Businesses in any field also need IT workers to operate and process information.

Nguyen Trung Chinh, chairman of CMC Corporation, said that the demand for IT human resources was very high. However, currently, universities have yet to meet both quantity and quality, only meeting about 25 per cent of demand in terms of quantity. By 2030, the market will need 1.5 million IT workers.

“CMC is expected to become a global enterprise with a turnover of $1 billion and a scale of more than 10,000 employees by 2025. Currently, CMC, with a team of 4,200 people, has a great demand for recruitment but faces many difficulties because the supply is insufficient," Chinh said.

Lacking the right quantity and quality in digital human resources is a headache for managers. Park JongHo, CEO of TopDev, said that the wave of foreign investment had brought many opportunities for Vietnam's IT labour market to expand and become more vibrant.

Some IT companies in the region are eyeing Vietnam as a potential destination to recruit workers and build teams of product development engineers. Many traditional tourism, agriculture, and real estate businesses have digitally transformed and entered the e-commerce model. This creates more pressure on IT human resource shortages.

According to Vietnam IT Market Report – Tech Hiring 2022 published in September, despite being sought after with attractive salaries, the supply of human resources in the IT field has not yet met the demand and growth rate required.

Solutions

Minister Hung said promoting university training was one of the important solutions to respond to the lack of digital human resources.

He said that to develop digital human resources, the state should enact policies to encourage training institutions to promote digital training and build digital universities.

"CMC focuses on investing in education, aiming not only to create high-quality human resources to serve our corporation's demand but also contribute to human resources for society," he added.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, founder of FUNiX University, predicts that soon, learning IT will not only be for those who specialise in this sector, but for workers in many other sectors.

"The cooperation between enterprises and educational institutions is essential to fill the shortage of human resources, especially high-quality workers," said Nam.

Nguyen Ngoc Dung, an expert at the National Innovation Center, said Vietnam had the advantage of a golden population in terms of age, but it was not yet "golden in quality."

“To solve the problem of lack of quantity and poor quality of digital human resources, the government needs to assign agencies to develop specific training programs and strategies. Additionally, contests should be organised for students, especially female students, to motivate them to learn about information technology. If training is not enough to meet the demand, it is necessary to look into importing workers from abroad,” Dung said.

Experts believe the government should increase investment in digital human resource training, set criteria and have a clear vision for the development and completion of legal documents in the field. In addition, enterprises must closely coordinate with universities and vocational colleges to share practical knowledge.

Training institutions also need to change their training curricula and teaching methods and improve the qualifications of teachers in line with market demands.

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