Soft skills a must for Vietnamese workers

Vietnamese workers lack in soft skills, including team work, communication and adaptation to new circumstances, according to a survey jointly conducted by a Vietnamese labour institute and Manpower group. Foreign investors reveal soft skills and professional skills are equally important in their recruitment decision. Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs (ILSSA) Director Nguyen Thi Lan Huong said they questioned 100 FDI businesses in six provinces and cities, focusing on three fields – consumer products, electronics and automobile assembling. Since Vietnam integrated into the global economy FDI businesses have played an increasing role in promoting economic growth, generating jobs for workers and taking the lead in technology and human resource management. Thus their human resource development orientations may create new trends and forecast development for the future labour market, the survey finds. It also points out a worrying trend that some FDI businesses attract workers from their rivals, instead of training their workers. The results of the survey indicate that FDI businesses have not been largely affected by the economic crisis as more than half of them are still going strong and only 5% have suffered from losses. Most FDI businesses have invested in technology and more complicated production processes, but they prefer recruiting unskilled workers on low expenses. This may prevent business operations in the future. At the March 6 seminar to launch the survey, participants discussed solutions for improving Vietnamese workers’ skills to meet foreign investors’ requirements in the future. They proposed that universities, colleges and vocational schools should coordinate with FDI businesses to teach skills in line with their development strategies. VOV