CPTPP is the driving force and requirement to improve labor quality

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which has been signed and put into practice by the eleven signatory countries, has a number of contents related to this issue. Thus, what are the solutions for Vietnam to improve the quality of human resources in the coming time?

Lack of high quality human resources

According to the report from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the management level of Vietnamese enterprises is the lowest in Southeast Asia. Notably, up to 55% of businesses claim that it is difficult to find high quality labor force to meet their demands. According to the survey data of the Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs, two thirds of Vietnamese enterprises said that the majority of workers lack necessary skills both in terms of expertise and other core skills. The lack of core skills besides technical skills is more serious than the lack of technical skills.

Therefore, according to Mr. Vu Tien Loc, President of VCCI, improving the quality of human resources is the core factor to promote growth with higher quality, bringing Vietnam's economy to higher growth in the future. All reforms must be rooted in the reform of the human resource training system.

Assessing the impact of CPTPP on human resource development in Vietnam, Dr. Le Kim Dung, Director of the Department of Employment (Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs) stated that CPTPP is creating both opportunities and challenges. Ms. Dung analyzed that the opportunities for career development are created from the cooperation between vocational education institutions, opportunities for learning, fostering and exchanging to improve the level of teachers and professional education managers. In addition, it will attract more foreign investment resources in the field of vocational education.

However, the biggest challenge for Vietnamese workers is their competitiveness while the level of readiness of Vietnamese vocational education is still slow. The competition between Vietnam and other countries in the world for the provision of high quality workforce is increasing, which requires a significant improvement in the quality of vocational education in line with the standards of the region and the world to enhance the ability to recognize diplomas and certificates between Vietnam and other nations.

However, according to Prof. Nguyen Mai, the quality of Vietnam's labor is not alarming. Further analysis of this idea, Prof. Nguyen Mai said that the quality of human resources in Vietnam should be approached in three directions. Firstly, although the revised Education Law has not yet been adopted, some universities, such as the University of Commerce or the National Economics University have changed a lot in their bachelor's degree programs. Particularly, more than 80% of students have jobs right after graduation. In addition, some models of vocational schools linked to the needs of enterprises are also implemented. There are many good models that have been deployed but unfortunately the deployment time is still slow.

Secondly, in 2017 Vietnam recorded total import and export turnover reaching more than 425 billion USD. Accordingly, Vietnam exports ranked second in the ASEAN region and in the US market, the rank of Vietnam, from the "bottom" position in ASEAN 6, has now improved.

Thirdly, in 2017, the export turnover of Vietnam - Korea increased 30%, reaching more than 80 billion USD. Korea is also one of the hardest markets but Vietnam’s products have also met their demands. From the above approaches, Prof. Nguyen Mai concluded that the quality of labor source is not worrying.

"What the quality of Vietnam's labor force is lacking today, is the lack of high quality human resources like Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to train this high-level human resource", Prof Nguyen Mai emphasized.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the WTO Center, with the implementation of CPTPP, the cost of enterprises for labor resources is higher because of higher standards in CPTPP. However, whether this is a challenge or not, is another matter. If Vietnam implements CPTPP well, Vietnamese enterprises will also benefit from the export of goods and they will not have to suffer from the non-guaranteed "law". This will be an opportunity, an impetus for businesses to improve their workforce quality.

All reforms must be rooted in the reform of the human resource training system. Photo: S.T.

Converted to "digital human resources"

According to Ms. Nguyen Phuong Mai, CEO of Navigos Search Vietnam, Vietnamese enterprises have made positive moves in developing solutions as well as finding potential candidates. The only thing is that Vietnamese enterprises use traditional training methods such as organizing classes and training necessary skills for their staff; professional training uses lots of internal resources... FDI enterprises are prepared faster in the digital trend, they are willing to send employees abroad to the indigenous countries for training. We are aware of the importance of actively equipping the necessary skills, knowledge of digital transformation and technological skills. Therefore, we should be active and learn skills for ourselves, actively equipped, so the candidates will be readier for the future.

Ms. Mai also pointed out the challenges of enterprises when they recruit middle and senior positions, which are lacking and weak today. We do not have the resources to help businesses turn their strengths into competitive strength in the labor market. Talking about solutions to improve the quality of human resources in Vietnam, Ms. Mai said that we now have four groups of partners that need to shake hands together to solve the problem of improving the quality of enterprises in Vietnam, they are: State management agencies; trainers, training schools; enterprises; media agencies and consulting units.

Referring to the solutions to improve the quality of human resources, Mr. Vu Tien Loc proposed, the university training program in the current context should be shortened to two years rather than four to five years, because that is the trend in the world. We cannot wait for 4-5 years to "lay" a generation. Technique and technology should also be shortened. So everything has to change to be faster. "We must really strengthen the education system; strengthen the education of technology and science. In addition to professional education, attention should be paid to the education of core skills. In the current context, businesses are not only the ordering people, customers of the education sector but also owners, investors of the education system", added Mr. Loc.

Mr. Stephan Ulrich, Project Manager of the Sustainable Enterprise Development Project of the International Labor Organization (ILO) stated that Vietnam needs to expand its education, universalize education and encourage students to participate in 4 subjects: science, technology, mathematics and technique to look for higher-paying jobs in the future. In addition, education and start-up businesses need to be reformed. The connection between the public and private sectors in the field of training is necessary so that the private sector can promote the public one to change and improve.