3 June 2021
The rapid growth of overseas investment into Vietnam in recent years has led to an increase in demand for highly qualified workers. In addition, the emergence of many new industries while domestic human resources cannot meet demand in quality and quantity have opened up attractive opportunities for foreign workers.
According to a 2019 Navigos report on the expectations and challenges when working in Vietnam, the demand for non-national candidates will continue to increase by more than 20 per cent each year. It also emphasised that Vietnam would continue to be an ideal destination for many foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) because of its rapidly-growing economy and many approved free trade agreements. Somewhat surprisingly, the pandemic which emerged after the report came out does not seem to have changed its overall predictions by a great amount. Success in disease control in Vietnam has not only opened the eyes of investors but also ensured it remains a fertile and attractive land for overseas workers. Although the ratio has changed due to impacts from the pandemic, the demand for foreign workers in Vietnam will still be proportional to the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI), especially professions that need to use skilled labourers like technology, energy, and manufacturing that require high qualifications. While the number of Vietnamese workers who have been trained in these areas is just over 25 per cent, the rest are unskilled labourers working in simple processing and assembling stages. In fact, during the pandemic, the number of foreign workers coming to Vietnam even increased, with more than 100,000 people as of April, higher than the number of more than 98,000 people last year. As foreign investment in Vietnam increases, FIEs tend to recruit and import more high-skilled overseas workers because most Vietnamese workers do not meet the requirements. Welcoming major projects
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