The fourth industrial revolution which is dramatically affecting labour markets around the world will also create 2.1 Mn jobs in Vietnam including in Vietnam, mostly in computing, maths, and engineering. 

Trần Anh Tuấn, deputy head of HCM City’s Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information, said that Vietnam was already using “smart” factories, where robotics, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data analytics were being employed to make manufacturing more intelligent, efficient and sustainable.

The IT industry, which is being hailed as the strategic sector in the 2019-2025 period, will need far more skilled workers than it has today. New jobs in cybersecurity, information security, programming for mobile apps and 3D game design, are now being created.

Other industries such as electricity, electronics, mechanical engineering, and automotive engineering will also require more people in the 2019-2025 period, Tuấn stated, adding that 24,000 employees would be needed for the electricity-IT industries each year in the period, and 15,000 for mechanical engineering each year.

The same is seconded by the latest report on “Career Prospects & Skill Trends in Vietnam within the period between 2018 and 2022” of VietnamWorks, the online job site under the Navigos Group. The report shows that 59% of surveyed human resources professionals said robots and automation would create the biggest impact on the labor market in the next five years.

The report this year surveyed more than 200 human resources professionals who hold managerial positions in top firms and corporations in Vietnam. In addition, the telecommunications boom in the “mobile internet, cloud technology” as well as “processing power, big data” categories is also forecasted to create a huge impact.

To this effect, 66% of HR professionals agreed with the need for “change in natures of work, flexible work” to stimulate change, followed by “the development of elite labor” and “the development of a young demographic”.

Up to one-fifth said the participation of women would undoubtedly change the labor market.

In no surprise, around 90 per cent of respondents were certain that “high tech, engineering” and “computer and technology” would have increased demand in the near future. Similarly, arts, design, entertainment, sports and media would are also expected to register high demand in the next five years. On the flip side, job categories which would experience lower demand include administrative and clerical jobs.

As these changes would create new jobs with different competencies, 87% of respondents expect demonstrated "problem sensitivity" from their candidates, followed by “creativity and cognitive flexibility". On the other hand, "manual dexterity and precision" is given little importance. Again it was not a surprise that "active learning" is the most essential basic skill for employees as per the report.

Similarly, cooperation would be the most important cross-functional skill, followed by people management, emotional intelligence and judgement and decision making, accounting for over 60% each. 

No wonder the report stressed that it is necessary for schools to adjust their enrollment plan and curriculum to improve students’ employability for the coming digital era.