Challenges of human resource quality
Vietnam is facing a great opportunity to break through, but also faces unprecedented challenges in terms of labor quality, innovation capacity and adaptability to the rapid transformation of technology. To realize the aspiration for development, high-quality human resources must be seen as a decisive foundation.
Currently, the quality of human resources still faces some major challenges.
Skill gaps between business requirements and the responsiveness of the labor force, especially young workers. Recent surveys show that the rate of new graduates self-assessing is still weak in many key skill groups: More than 63% feel that their problem-solving ability is only average or below average, nearly 68% lack confidence in critical thinking, and up to 74% believe that their creativity has not met the requirements.
The foreign language and digital skills of a part of young workers are also limited, making it difficult to participate in global value chains. About 45% of new graduates self-assess work English as weak or very weak, causing them to encounter obstacles when working in an international environment or accessing new science and technology knowledge.
Vietnam's labor productivity is still low compared to the region. In recent years, productivity has increased mainly thanks to more machinery investment instead of relying on innovation or technological innovation. This clearly reflects the shortage of high-quality human resources - forces capable of creating greater added value in the production chain.
The phenomenon of "brain drain" still exists when many high-tech workers, technology engineers, and scientists tend to seek opportunities abroad because the domestic income and research-creative environment are still limited.This makes it difficult for Vietnam to maintain core resources to develop new technologies.
STEM, AI and core technologies play a central role.
To achieve the goal of developing high-quality human resources, Vietnam must create a new education and training ecosystem, in which STEM, AI and core technologies play a central role.
It is necessary to expand STEM training right from the general education level. The formation of scientific thinking, calculation thinking and problem-solving ability in students is an important premise for developing high-tech human resources in the future.
At the university and postgraduate levels, it is necessary to strongly increase the targets for training information technology engineers, network security, data science, semiconductor engineers, automation engineering... These are all industries that are lacking human resources globally. Vietnam also needs to build a national AI research center model, encourage applied research projects funded by businesses, and promote research and development (R&D) activities in universities.
Early formation of national digital skills standards, acting as a measure for schools, businesses and workers to orient training. The entire labor force must be equipped with digital skills to meet the requirements of the new economy.
The task of attracting international experts, intellectuals and overseas Vietnamese must be given special attention in the context of fierce competition for high-quality human resources. Attraction efforts begin with perfecting specific preferential policies, ensuring a corresponding income level for scientists, technology engineers and senior experts.
Diversifying models such as visiting scholars, international research collaborations or vocational reintegration programs for Vietnamese intellectuals after working abroad can help Vietnam absorb advanced knowledge and spread it in the research and training system.
Vietnam also needs to strengthen in-depth international cooperation, especially in strategic areas such as AI, semiconductor technology, and clean energy. The establishment of joint laboratories and master's and doctoral training programs under a co-guided model with leading universities in the world will create conditions for Vietnam to develop a high-level human resource team.
VIEWPOINT OF THE XIV CONGRESS ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
The 14th Party Congress set a clear goal: Developing high-quality human resources is one of the three strategic breakthroughs in the 2026–2030 period, in addition to perfecting institutions and developing synchronous infrastructure. The consistent viewpoint is to consider people as the center of development, both as a driving force and as the goal of the country's development strategy.
The Congress emphasized that high-quality human resources must be linked to science - technology and innovation, in line with the development trend of the digital economy. Training must not only stop at foundational knowledge, but must aim at building adaptive capacity, innovation spirit and creativity of workers.
In addition, the 14th Congress also emphasized the requirement to innovate the education and training institutions, promote university autonomy, and encourage training institutions to cooperate closely with businesses to build programs that are close to reality. Vocational training must be linked to market needs; business semester programs and practical internships must become mandatory requirements.
Another important viewpoint is that human resource development must ensure synchronization between quantity, quality and structure. Vietnam needs to focus on training human resources for key industries such as semiconductor industry, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, logistics, and high-quality healthcare. These are areas that can accelerate the economy in the next decade.
