Vocational and skill shortages in Vietnamese manufacturing and service sectors, and some plausible solutions

The competition for talent is global. Reducing skill shortage problems boosts employment participation with a flow-on effect to the health and well-being of societies. Employment distributes a society's wealth among its citizens with a level of equity. This paper focuses on skill shortages in the labour force in Vietnam (in particular professional and technical qualifications) and basic capabilities in the manufacturing and service sectors. This is a qualitative research study involving an extensive literature review using secondary data. It concludes that skills shortages present significant challenges for the Vietnamese government. Plausible solutions to these identified challenges include focusing on substantial revisions to the national education and training systems in consultation with numerous associated stakeholders. The problem is both a national and an institutional human resource management (HRM) issue; such consultation should involve government policy-makers, industry associations, unions, educational and HRM specialists.