ManpowerGroup announces scholarships to upskill next generation

The conference held by ManpowerGroup and the MoLISA

The announcement was part of a conference co-organised by ManpowerGroup and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

The scholarship programme, which will last for five years, is aimed to help Vietnam improve the quality of its future workforce and also shows the company’s strong commitments to social responsibility. Students of vocational training schools, colleges, and universities will be the beneficiaries of the programmes.

At this conference titled "Global integration and future manpower – upskilling young workforce for success," participants, including representatives of the MoLISA, research institutes, businesses, and vocational training schools focused discussions on the rapidly changing world of work in the 4.0 era, technology disruption, artificial intelligence (AI), and robots, which are expected to exert a significant impact on employment.

Participants agreed that reskilling and upskilling workforce is a must for Vietnam to better adapt to the requirements of automation and digitisation.

Addressing the event, Doan Mau Diep, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that developing the labour market, increasing the capacity of job replacement centres, reskilling, and upskilling are among the Vietnamese government’s top priorities.

Doan Mau Diep, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, speaking at the conference

According to Simon Matthews, country manager of ManpowerGroup in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Middle East, Vietnam has great opportunities to upskill labourers in the sectors with high growth potential. “Businesses, the government, and schools need close cooperation to make preparations to help the next generations to adapt to the changing world of work which is strongly influenced by fast digitalisation.”

With a total workforce of nearly 56 million people, Vietnam has advantages in attracting foreign investment. However, according to ManpowerGroup's labour market report for the second quarter, just 11 per cent of Vietnamese labourers are highly skilled. Thus, businesses are projected to face challenges in seeking out talents.

Accordingly, demands for IT staff are expected to rise, driven by growing investment in digitalisation, while that for office administrative staff is projected to fall due to automation.