Urgent career change in the face of technological development

The 4th industrial revolution will have a major impact on labor-intensive industries. To ensure employment for workers, not only the State and businesses, but also workers themselves need to quickly improve their qualifications and professional skills.

According to the survey "Vietnam's labor market trends in the transition period" by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), nearly 5 million workers in the textile, electronics, and retail sectors will be affected.

Textile and electronics workers at high risk

According to Ms. Dao Thi Thu Hien, Chief of Office of Canon Vietnam Company, 7 years ago, Canon Thang Long factory (Dong Anh district, Hanoi) had 13,000 employees, now it has reduced to 8,000 people; but revenue and output remain stable. The reason for the reduction in labor is that many production stages have used robots to replace workers. "During the operation, the company's engineers use components and core technology to assemble automatic machines to replace human positions," Ms. Dao Thi Thu Hien said.

» 23 Vietnamese people have the same labor productivity as 1 Singaporean

Ms. Nguyen Thien Ly, Deputy General Director of May 10 Corporation, said: “The trend of using machine technology to replace labor is inevitable in competition to reduce costs. In recent years, the company has had to invest in industrial equipment to reduce labor pressure. For example, investing in an automatic cutting machine can save 12-15 workers, some other equipment also helps reduce 2-3 workers.”

“Vietnam's textile and garment industry has faced many difficulties in the past year due to the increase in Vietnamese labor costs, while tariff incentives are no longer the same as before; applying new technology to reduce labor will help to partially resolve this difficulty,” Ms. Nguyen Thien Ly analyzed.

According to a survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO), in 2015, to meet the integration trend, some foreign-invested garment factories in Vietnam have put new technology into use, replacing 10-15 workers in each stage.

And in the coming time, according to the ILO study on “ASEAN in transition - technology is changing jobs”, 86% of Vietnamese workers in the textile, garment and footwear industry may face a high risk of losing their jobs due to automation. Along with that, 3/4 of workers in the electrical and electronic industry may be replaced by robots.

Only 20.6% of workers have degrees

According to Mr. Dao Van Vinh, Director of the Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs), globalization and the scientific and technological revolution are posing challenges to the labor market. Out of a total of more than 54 million workers nationwide, only more than 11.2 million have been trained with degrees and certificates, accounting for 20.6%. It is noteworthy that the proportion of trained workers in engineering and technology is still low and there is a shortage of highly skilled workers, skilled workers, especially in the fields of mechanics, electronics, electrical engineering or workers in the fields of business administration, finance, banking, information technology, and automation.

According to statistics, Vietnam's labor productivity in terms of purchasing power parity is only 5.6% of Singapore; 8.3% of Japan; 15.2% of Malaysia; 36.3% of China; 36.9% of Thailand and 54.3% of the Philippines. If the labor productivity growth rate remains the same as in recent years, it will take Vietnam many more decades to catch up with ASEAN countries as well as other advanced countries in the world.

Ms. Nguyen Thien Ly said: Most workers when entering the enterprise must be retrained. Machines replacing humans is a real challenge for enterprises in terms of job creation. Enterprises really hope that the government will support enterprises in training quality workers, otherwise they will have to retrain, which is very costly.

“Enterprises are not only investors but also need to directly participate in teaching and training, shortening the gap between the market and the enterprise. The working environment itself is also a school for employees,” Mr. Vu Tien Loc assessed.

Labor skills play an important role, but are currently not suitable for the labor market due to many different reasons. Mr. Dao Quang Vinh said: Through analyzing the quarterly labor market newsletter, the skills that businesses need include both technical skills and core skills such as creative thinking ability, foreign languages, teamwork skills, and problem-solving skills. However, workers currently lack core skills at a serious level. Technical skills can be trained at the enterprise, but core skills require a whole training process to be achieved.

According to Xuan Cuong/baotintuc