That description is also true for many companies surveyed, including the Vietnam National Steel Corporation, one of the 18 State-owned groups.

Dr. Phan Doc Lap, Vice Rector of the Metallurgy Institute, said that of the 1,082 employees of the Vietnam National Steel Corporation, only 72 can perform scientific research and implement sci-tech projects.

Chu Thi Tuyet Hanh, Human Resources Manager of the Saigon Transport Mechanics Corporation, said his corporation is facing most of the labor-related problems reported by the media: the redundancies of lacking qualified staffers and newly graduated bachelors and engineers don’t meet requirements, among many others.

As a big State-owned group, the Saigon Transport Mechanics Corporation has 1,120 laborers, 23.47% of which hold at least a bachelors degree. The ratio of college graduates and trained workers is also very high. However, the number of truly qualified employees is quite small and the corporation is trying to re-structure its workforce.

At Thanh Cong, a famous local textile and garment company, the human resources department designed a recruitment plan aimed at recruiting a high number of qualified employees from 2008 – 2010, but recruiters are no longer confident this plan can be fulfilled.

“The curriculum of colleges and universities in Vietnam is too old, and newly graduated students are incapable of fulfilling their responsibilities when they come to work for us out of college,” said a Thanh Cong official.

He added: “Newly graduated employees can perform simple tasks like making photocopies and sending and receiving faxes but they can’t speak English or use computers”.

Vu Duy Nam, General Director of Nha Be, another big garment company, said: “We have to re-train our new staffers within 3-6 months. Newly graduated students, including those studying business don’t know how to complete customs formalities and can’t translate business contracts.”

He said the biggest difficulty Nha Be faces is not fierce competition, prices or product quality, but human resources.

At some garment and textile companies, the labor shortage has also become a big problem; there aren’t enough workers, technicians and designers. It is expected that this sector will need up to 3.5-4 million workers by 2010.

The paper industry is facing the same problem, lacking qualified workers and experts. Low labor quality makes productivity of paper companies very low. Presently, paper companies can only seek suitable staff from the Hanoi University of Technology, HCM City-based Agriculture and Forestry University and Paper Technology College. But these students also need re-training after recruited.

According to a survey of nearly 1,000 companies, up to 36.6% of employees must be trained or re-trained after they are recruited, said Dr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Head of the General Department of Vocational Training. 

Source: TT