General labor accounts for the majority
On August 11, Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee organized a thematic conference on the current situation and solutions to improve labor quality, serving the goal of double-digit economic growth.
Chairman of Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee Lu Quang Ngoi assessed that the quality of human resources in the province is still low, and the number of untrained workers is still high. Meanwhile, Ca Mau is entering a new stage of development with many large projects being formed, posing an urgent requirement for high-quality human resources.
According to statistics, the whole province currently has 10,311 registered businesses, with a total of 106,680 workers. Of which, unskilled workers account for about 90.2%. Most businesses are small and medium-sized, accounting for more than 98%.
This labor structure is revealing a large gap compared to the development needs of the province. Ca Mau is orienting the development of renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power, hydrogen, green ammonia; attracting investment in natural gas and LNG infrastructure in the period 2026 - 2030.
Along with that is the Hon Khoai dual-use seaport project, logistics system, seaport services associated with industrial zones, clusters and energy centers.
According to the Chairman of Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee, these projects will significantly change labor demand. The province will need many chemical technology engineers, mechanics, electricity - automation, green energy conversion experts, industrial operation and maintenance engineers. The seaport and logistics sector also needs human resources who are well-trained in port exploitation management, multimodal transportation, maritime dispatch, supply chain management and port logistics services.
Ca Mau Department of Home Affairs forecasts that the demand for human resources in the coming time will focus on industry groups with high technical and technological content. In which, the aquaculture sector needs high-tech farming engineers, quality management experts, and automated processing line operators. Renewable energy projects and marine logistics infrastructure need technicians to install, operate, and maintain energy systems, electrical engineers and human resources to manage smart energy systems.
Projects belonging to Ca Mau Gas - Electricity - Fertilizer Cluster, wind power plants, gas power, biomass power when implemented together with the system of seafood processing and exporting enterprises are forecast to continue to have a large demand for engineers and high-tech labor.
Training has not kept up with business needs
Director of Ca Mau Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Chi Thien said that the current training industry structure has not kept up with the pace of industrial restructuring.
According to Mr. Nguyen Chi Thien, the province's labor is still mainly concentrated in the processing and manual preliminary processing stages, especially in the export seafood processing industry. Meanwhile, the province is lacking a team of engineers operating automation systems, technicians maintaining high-tech equipment at deep-processing plants, renewable energy projects and gas - electricity - fertilizer industrial clusters. This "loophole" makes large projects have to recruit technical personnel from other localities or abroad, increasing investment costs and reducing the ability to use local labor.
Another issue pointed out by the leaders of the Department of Industry and Trade is the shortage of green and digital skills in the business management team. Export businesses are increasingly having to meet the strict requirements of the international market such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms, ESG standards and traceability. However, the human resources knowledgeable about energy, green transformation, and digital supply chain management at businesses in the province are still thin and do not meet practical requirements.
To overcome this, the Department of Industry and Trade proposed that the Provincial People's Committee assign the Department of Home Affairs to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Education and Training and related units to develop a Project on linking training and supplying high-tech labor for key industries in the period 2026 - 2030.
In the field of agriculture, Deputy Director of Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Environment Pham Van Muoi said that the province needs to focus on developing 3 groups of human resources including state management officials with integrated management thinking, good use of data and digital technology; experts, engineers, technicians on high-tech shrimp farming, aquatic diseases, deep processing, traceability, circular economy, environmental monitoring and resource management; along with professional farmers, digital farmers, cooperative management officials and agricultural entrepreneurs.
