High-quality human resources: "Hold the gold, don't let it fall"

Workers in VinSmart Factory. Illustration photo: ST

Quality of human resources - the main factor attracting high technology

According to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, the issue of high-quality human resources is a bottleneck that Vietnam needs to resolve soon to be able to promote the attraction of high-quality capital flows. There are currently more than 50 large FDI enterprises investing in Vietnam in the microelectronics and semiconductor industry, in which the field of IC design requires the most high-quality human resources.

Notably, Vietnam is exposed to great opportunities in cooperation to develop high-tech fields, such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, new energy technology..., but the actual implementation is facing challenges due to the lack of human resources, both in quantity and quality. The main reason lies in the objective rules of the supply-demand relationship between the education and training system and the labor market. Learners and training institutions will prioritize choosing and investing in occupations with low training costs that have great demand in the immediate labor market. Therefore, although the semiconductor chip technology industry is not a completely new training industry, there have been a number of large universities that have been providing training for many years, but the number of students studying and graduating is up to is still very low.

The labor market in the field of semiconductors and microchips is just beginning to form, mainly in potential form, so the biggest challenge is how to attract students to study these majors and improve training quality to meet the strict requirements of FDI businesses and corporations.

According to experts, the semiconductor and microchip industry owns great potential in the future in terms of well-qualified manpower. Like many other high-tech industries, the semiconductor industry requires high levels of investment and places demands on available human resources.

From the perspective of representing an FDI enterprise, Mr. Gaur Dattatreya, CEO of Bosch Global Software Technologies Co., Ltd. affirmed that, in spite of a series of global crises and fluctuations, however, he always believes in the ability to break through as well as the Government's orientation to make Vietnam an attractive destination for high-quality and high-tech investments. In particular, Bosch currently has a specific plan to continue investing in high-quality human resources in Vietnam for new fields such as semiconductors or chip design.

“The quality of human resources is one of the main factors affecting the decision to locate or move bases of multinational corporations. Therefore, we recommend that the Government consider and have specific plans to develop human resources of key high-tech industries. Accordingly, it is necessary to start by encouraging the development of an ecosystem connecting domestic businesses, foreign investors, vocational education institutions, and universities, thereby facilitating Vietnamese human resources to access to knowledge and practical skills to catch the wave of foreign investment in key industries," Mr. Gaur Dattatreya proposed.

Human resource training is one step ahead

According to Mr. Jonathan Pincus, Chief Economist of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam, after 30 years of reform, Vietnam's space for further development has reached its limit when the driving force comes from cheap manual labor force and resource exploitation are no longer advantages. Vietnam needs to quickly shift to investing in high-quality human resources to accelerate participation in key high-tech industries. Vietnam needs to analyze and forecast potential technology fields to focus on in-depth training and promote stronger private investment.

Vietnam is currently one of the important "bases" of many of the world's leading businesses in the field of high technology. However, many businesses still worry about the level of response to high-tech human resources. Mr. Chou I Wen, Deputy General Director in charge of Foxconn Vietnam Headquarters, said that currently, for special vacancies in the technology field, only 30% of candidates meet the requirements of skills and professional knowledge. “To overcome this problem, we always attach importance to cooperation between schools and businesses, through training orders with schools, encouraging and supporting students from schools for experiential internships and dispatching bachelor's degree’s employees training abroad... to improve staff qualifications. However, these are only temporary solutions for businesses," Mr. Chou I Wen added.

At the same time, Mr. Chou I Wen also proposed that Vietnam needs to deploy programs to train high-quality human resources and technical workers in core industries. Moreover, there should be investment in more practice facilities... to improve the quality of human resources to facilitate businesses in expanding high-tech investment.

Therefore, to solve the problem of human resources, in addition to clear direction, supporting resources and effective coordination tools from the State, it is necessary to proactively participate in higher education institutions, combining with corporations and businesses, to train human resources to be one step ahead, thereby attracting investment and developing the labor market.

In terms of policies, Dr. Nguyen Trung Hieu (Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology) said that it is necessary to research and organize at least 3 high-tech research centers, with special priority given to investment in circuit design and semiconductor technology in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, develop specific policies and regulations to encourage businesses to invest in research, establish and develop semiconductor chip production and business facilities in Vietnam; policies to support universities in investing in facilities, human resources, and a team of experts for training and research; Then policies on scholarships, tuition, credit incentives and other policies motivate learners to be interested and persistent in pursuing the field of semiconductor circuit design.