Viet Nam faces a serious shortage of high-quality workers in information technology (IT), which poses challenges to the country as digitalisation, the 4^th scientific revolution, is taking place worldwide.

Illustrative image (Source: Getty Images)

Under the national workforce master plan, Viet Nam needs approximately one million IT workers by 2020.

According to the recruitment website Vietnamworks, the demand for IT workers increases by 47% annually but Viet Nam meets only 8% of the national demand for such workforce.

Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Information Technology Department of the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications, said Vietnamese students can quickly grasp IT but lack soft skills and teamwork ability.

Most software companies are small and medium without professional marketing staff so products are often distributed via foreign partners, he said.

A survey of more than 50 IT firms by the Ha Noi University of Science and Technology’s Faculty of IT showed that 70% of IT graduates achieved good grades but in reality, the IT workforce is weak in English proficiency, self-study and negotiation skills.

Those who are fully equipped with the above skills tend to work for foreign enterprises, leading to the manpower scarcity for domestic firms.

To improve the IT workforce, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha suggested rallying public involvement in IT and English training.

The Rector of FUNiX University – the first online university in Viet Nam, Mr Nguyen Thanh Nam, said online training courses saves time and costs. With diverse curricular, IT lovers could access online lectures by Vietnamese and foreign professors, he added.

The Vice President of the Viet Nam Software & IT Services Association, Mr Mai Duy Quang, proposed connecting IT firms with educational establishments to organise more conferences and seminars to assist students.

In 2014, the Ministry of Information and Communications issued a circular on standardising IT education with the aim of training generations of quality IT staff.

(Source: VNA/DA NANG Today)