Companies face shortage of qualified employees Vietnamese firms have reported that finding qualified employees to fill critical positions is one of their biggest challenges and it is impeding both growth and the attraction of foreign investment. They have also reported that the nation has a work/skill gap, which is contributing to the problem and making it difficult to find and match the right candidate with the right job. Vo Quang Hue, Robert Bosch Vietnam General Director said his company is experiencing difficulties finding employees who are able to readily grasp and apply advanced technologies. Vietnam should put employee vocational training on the front burner to meet the immediate demands placed on businesses by foreign investors, he said. Yutaka Watanabe, general director of Towa Company in turn said his company has also experienced problems with the technological capacity of its workforce to such an extent that it can’t satisfy investor demand. Yasuzumi Hiro Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Managing Director in HCM City said the fundamental problem is that Vietnamese businesses in the past were not technologically advanced. As a result, employees don’t have the competitive edge operating many types of machinery and equipment, which is going to require substantial investment in training to get them up to speed with the necessary skill set.    Businesses have been especially experiencing shortages in the skilled trades and qualified technicians. In particular, information technology (IT) firms in HCM City have had extensive problems filling job openings, Hiro said. Ngo Duc Tri, Global Cybersoft Vietnam General Director said his company had to decline many orders on the back of employee shortage to fill them. The software market has great potential but with our limited staff of only 900 we are unable to keep up with demand. Nguyen Duc Quynh, FPT Software Director in HCM City, echoed Tri’s views, and said the Japanese demand for sourcing work has been expanding. FPT Software has plans to raise its number of employees by fivefold, Quynh estimated that the company needs to train around 10,000 computer programmers by 2020 to serve just its Japanese customers. Since 2006, HCM City has attracted strong groups like Intel to invest in its high-tech sector. The city has been laying out a master plan for the IC industry’s human resources development. Sherry Boger, Intel Products Vietnam General Director affirmed Intel’s willingness to assist HCM City in training human resources for the industry. She suggested the city coordinate with Intel to set up a training centre. Numerous leading industry leaders have advised that Vietnam should lay out specific plans for dealing with the issue and establish a link between the Government and businesses to coordinate the development of a comprehensive road map to resolve it. At a recent meeting with HCM City’s leaders, a representative from Italian business association said Vietnam’s employee training was not up to snuff and did not meet their needs. Consequently they had to retrain all of their employees at great expense both in time and money. Training should be reevaluated in order to solve the dilemma. In fact, most graduates from universities and colleges lack the skills needed by businesses, which adds to work/skill gap. The solution is to more effectively coordinate training at Vietnam’s universities, colleges and vocational schools with the needs of the business community, city leaders said. VOV