The "thirst" for high-quality human resources:Lesson 1: Challenges in Human Resource Quality
Nghe An is facing unprecedented opportunities as it continuously breaks through and establishes itself as one of the leading processing and manufacturing industrial centers in the country, attracting billions of USD in FDI. However, alongside this impressive growth are concerns related to attracting high-quality human resources.
Reporters Team• June 2, 2026
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Nghe An is facing unprecedented opportunities as it continuously breaks through and establishes itself as one of the leading processing and manufacturing industrial centers in the country, attracting billions of USD in FDI. However, alongside this impressive growth are concerns related to attracting high-quality human resources.
With FDI inflows continuously surging from US$1.6 billion in 2023 to US$1.75 billion in 2024, Nghe An has officially established itself as one of Vietnam's major processing and manufacturing industrial centers. In 2025, the province's industrial production index (IIP) is projected to increase by 16.5%, ranking fourth nationwide. In the first four months of 2026, Nghe An successfully attracted over US$2.2 billion in FDI. This impressive result propelled the province to second place nationwide, contributing nearly 15% of the total registered FDI capital across the country. Many billion-dollar corporations are transforming this region into a crucial link in the global supply chains of major brands.
However, behind this remarkable transformation lies a challenging reality: a severe shortage of qualified personnel to fill key positions within businesses and factories.
At the 2026 job fair, 20 businesses in industrial parks across Nghe An province registered to recruit 71,000 jobs. Notably, 93% of these were for unskilled labor, while only 7% (equivalent to nearly 5,000 positions) were for management, office, and high-level technical positions. Despite this small 7%, these are the most difficult positions to fill. According to statistics from the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board, although over 4,400 people were successfully recruited after the fair, the majority were still unskilled laborers. Meanwhile, the local workforce with higher education qualifications is experiencing a "mismatch": most candidates hold college degrees or higher but lack the practical technical skills to meet the standards of high-tech factories.
When businesses have limited options regarding labor quality, many key positions remain vacant for extended periods. Sharing his perspective on this issue, Mr. Kwon Ki Hoon, General Manager of Kyungshing Co., Ltd. (WHA Industrial Park), confirmed that despite implementing recruitment policies for a long time, several important positions remain unfilled. Furthermore, because the nature of their products directly impacts human lives, the company prioritizes long-term, committed employees rather than focusing on short-term recruitment.
Beyond just professional skills and qualifications, foreign language proficiency has become a "survival" condition for middle-level management positions in recent years. At Luxshare Nghe An Co., Ltd. – the company with the largest workforce in the province – the leadership recently proposed bringing in 100 workers from China to meet expansion needs, citing a lack of foreign language skills among local workers. In reality, job fairs show that while English language training classes are often understaffed, Chinese language classes are consistently overcrowded, accurately reflecting the language shortage needed to hold key positions in factories.
“Recruiting workers with sufficient experience and foreign language skills is very difficult. We have simultaneously applied many methods, from direct recruitment in communes, online recruitment to job fairs… but still cannot meet the demand,” shared Mr. Le Khanh Minh, head of recruitment at Luxshare ICT Nghe An Co., Ltd. According to Mr. Minh, the recruitment process is significantly hampered by the lack of professionalism of some applicants. They approach work with a temporary mindset and arbitrarily quit without prior notice to the company.
Faced with a shortage of highly skilled personnel, some businesses are forced to train their own workforce. At Everwin Precision Co., Ltd., out of more than 2,000 current employees, 350 are foreign experts. To ensure smooth operation, at least 20% of Vietnamese workers in positions such as team leaders and line supervisors are required to be proficient in Chinese. To meet this need, in 2025, Everwin Precision sent 32 personnel to China for intensive training to take on key roles. Simultaneously, the company continuously organizes language and machine skills training classes at the factory for more than 60 workers per session.
Besides training, a fierce "competition" for benefits is also raging to attract skilled and capable workers. In early 2026, Luxshare-ICT Nghe An Co., Ltd. announced a referral and retention bonus package of up to 23 million VND per person. The income of technical workers at factories currently ranges commonly from 10-15 million VND per month, accompanied by perks such as free dormitory accommodation and inter-provincial shuttle services from Nghe An to Ha Tinh to maximize the mobilization of labor in the region. At the same time, a number of other businesses such as An Nam Matsuoka Garment Co., Ltd., Gaiwach Vietnam International Apparel Co., Ltd., etc., are also expanding their bus routes to pick up workers from neighboring provinces.
In reality, most businesses in the area are small and medium-sized, or FDI enterprises in their early stages prioritize hiring unskilled labor, inadvertently reducing the motivation of workers to pursue long-term training programs. Furthermore, some parents and students still have an incomplete understanding of vocational education, and the mentality of valuing university degrees over higher-level vocational training remains prevalent. In addition, some training programs have not kept pace with the ever-changing demands of the labor market due to advancements in science and technology.
Concerned about the human resources issue, Mr. Ta Kim Cuong, Human Resources Director of Luxshare ICT Nghe An Co., Ltd., observed: Nghe An has an abundant advantage in its young workforce, especially those aged 20-39. Nghe An workers possess the characteristics of Central Vietnamese people: diligence, hard work, and quick learning. However, the overall quality of the workforce is still low, mainly lacking specialized training or having received training that does not meet requirements, posing significant challenges to the development of high-tech industries. Because the majority of the workforce comes from agriculture, their ability to process information, their skills, and their industrial work ethic are limited. This necessitates a strong improvement in the province's infrastructure and human resource training system to meet the demands of modernization.
As an insider, Ms. Tran Thi Huong - Head of Administration and Human Resources, Kyungshin Vietnam Co., Ltd. shared: “At the beginning of 2026, we are lacking one import/export department head, two technicians, and one accountant who are required to know Korean. Of these, the import/export department head position is the most difficult to fill. Since the company's establishment, this position has only had one person, and we have had to make efforts to attract candidates from very distant areas. With a salary of 20-25 million VND, the company requires candidates to have been trained in Hanoi and have at least 8 years of experience – criteria that very few people meet. For the past six months, this position has remained vacant despite a large number of applications. As for the technicians, recruitment isn't difficult, but employees tend to be less committed. Not long ago, we hired someone from Hanoi, but after only a year, due to disagreements over salary and feeling the income was too low, they left.” He has resigned from his job.
Ms. Huong herself is considered a high-quality employee, having passed many rigorous selection rounds to take on her current position since 2023. Before deciding to commit to Kyungshin Vietnam long-term, she had experience working in Ky Anh (Ha Tinh), Hanoi, and many other large industrial parks. She frankly stated: “To be honest, I'm not entirely satisfied with my current income, but I chose to stay because of the environment. The company pays full insurance, doesn't try to circumvent the law to reduce costs, always applies new salary policies the earliest, and colleagues are very friendly... These values are only truly appreciated by long-term employees, while new employees are very likely to leave after a while if they feel the salary is not satisfactory.”
This inadequacy is not unique to Kyungshin Vietnam but is a common reality for many businesses in the area. Amidst rising prices and living costs, low wages in Nghe An are becoming a major obstacle in attracting qualified personnel. Current recruitment programs seem insufficient to meet the expectations of workers.
Having worked in Hanoi for two years before returning to Nghe An, Ms. Tran Thi Tra Giang (born in 1993), Head of Import-Export Department at Everwin Precision Co., Ltd., affirmed that if it weren't for family reasons, she would probably have chosen a company far from home. “The salary wasn't really satisfactory to my expectations. When I returned to Nghe An, most of my friends and capable people chose to stay in Hanoi or other major cities. The reason is that the recruitment policies of businesses in Nghe An weren't attractive enough, and job positions were limited, with not many opportunities. I myself spent half a year looking for a job that I felt was acceptable,” Ms. Giang said.
With 7 years of experience working at a Ford factory in Binh Duong, Tran Dinh Quyet (born in 1993), from Kim Lien commune, shared: “Because I wanted to work near home, I participated in the job fair hoping to find a suitable position and income. Most of the companies I targeted required Chinese language skills, so I was willing to learn to adapt. However, the salary for a position requiring both experience and foreign language skills in Nghe An is still lower than in other provinces and cities. The income difference between highly skilled and unskilled workers is not significant. If things don't go as planned, I will switch to learning Chinese to work abroad.”
According to Ms. Ngo Thi Thanh (born in 1994), a Chinese language teacher at THL JOBS Center in Truong Vinh ward, Mr. Quyet's choice reflects a current trend: "Many young people who graduate from university with excellent grades, or who have well-paying jobs, still decide to learn a foreign language to work abroad. Their goal is still to find an income level commensurate with their aspirations. Although the cost of living abroad is expensive, compared to the salary level in Vietnam, they still have the potential to save more. If this situation continues, the local workforce will certainly face significant consequences in the future."
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Following the approval for the expansion of the Southeast Nghe An Economic Zone to five times its original size, exceeding 104,000 hectares, the demand for core human resources is projected to skyrocket. Therefore, retaining and attracting high-quality personnel is no longer solely a concern for businesses, but has become a matter of survival for the sustainable development of the entire economic region.
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(To be continued)
