3 major changes in the high-quality human resources market in Vietnam in the next 5-10 years

Ms. Vo Thi Bich Thuy - Manpower Vietnam Operations Director analyzes the current trend of demand for high-quality human resources.

According to Ms. Thuy, the high-quality human resources and international experts market in Vietnam has 3 major changes. This change affects the demand for high-quality human resources as well as the shift of international experts in Vietnam in the next decade.

The demand for high-quality human resources will increase faster than the market supply rate.

From Manpower's recruitment reality, the demand for skilled personnel in Vietnam is very large.

Manpower's Recruitment Trends survey shows that from the beginning of 2026 to now, the proportion of businesses expected to increase recruitment continuously is at a high level.

Most recently, 52% of businesses plan to increase recruitment in Q4/2026. Recruitment orders that Manpower Vietnam receives in 2026 are also trending upwards in the fields of AI, semiconductor, automation, logistics, supply chains and high-tech manufacturing.

However, the shortage of human resources with suitable skills is one of the main barriers in recruitment. About 50% of businesses in Vietnam participating in Manpower Vietnam's survey said they spent more time recruiting people than in 2025 due to a shortage of candidates - including the fact that the number of people with suitable skills applying is not enough or the source of candidates meeting recruitment requirements in the market is still limited.

A typical example of labor supply and demand gap is the semiconductor industry. Vietnam aims to develop about 50,000 semiconductor workers by 2030, while Ho Chi Minh City aims to train at least 9,000 workers with university degrees or higher. However, the whole country currently only has about 15,000 semiconductor workers - equivalent to 30% of the total demand.

Businesses' requirements for high-quality human resources are gradually changing

According to Manpower Vietnam, if previously businesses prioritized degrees, experience, foreign languages and management skills, now these factors have almost become basic conditions.

From the mid- and high-level recruitment projects that Manpower is implementing, it shows the increasing demand for candidates who are capable of deploying digital transformation, optimizing operations, management in the international environment and creating new value for the organization.

In other words, businesses used to recruit people to operate the work, but today they recruit people who can lead growth and innovation.

High-quality talent competition in the future will be global in nature

Previously, businesses mainly competed for human resources within the locality or between provinces and cities in the country. Nowadays, an AI expert, factory director or senior leader can completely choose to work in any economic center in the world.

The development of the digital economy, the trend of global talent movement and the increasing demand for high-level human resources are making the talent competition fierce.

That means Vietnam not only needs to make efforts to attract investment capital but also compete to attract domestic and international talents.

Therefore, if there is no proper preparation from now, the readiness rate of the labor market will not keep up with the pace of technological innovation or development requirements in the future.

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