The market lacks skilled human resources, there is a surplus of unskilled labor
The labor market is "thirsty" for skilled workers, while unskilled workers are struggling to find stable jobs.
Enterprises are always recruiting too many people
For the past 4 months, Mr. Bui Dinh Trung - Director of ACM Architectural Design Company (Ba Dinh Ward, Hanoi) has had a headache because he has not recruited enough personnel to serve the peak project in the last months of the year.
Mr. Trung said that his company specializes in designing and constructing villas, gardens, and high-end resorts. Therefore, in addition to the team of professional architects and designers, the company always needs to recruit highly skilled personnel for garden construction, construction of specialized items of garden houses, neoclassical villas, etc.
" Recruiting bricklayers and construction workers is easy, recruiting people with deep experience and high skills to implement specific items in this group is extremely difficult, even though the salary we offer is extremely attractive compared to the general level," said Mr. Trung.
According to Mr. Trung, the group of highly skilled construction workers, in addition to receiving high salaries from the company, also receive "hot bonuses" from many investors. "The project satisfies the aesthetics and progress, the investor does not mind the bonus," said Mr. Trung.
To make up for the lack of personnel and not lose customers, Mr. Trung had to rotate and support the personnel for the projects, and at the same time accept to hire staff from other companies and projects at high prices.
"There are difficult items, we pay up to 1.5 million VND/day but still cannot recruit enough people," Mr. Trung lamented.
Also "fought" to recruit people like Mr. Trung, Mr. Nguyen Duc Binh - Director of Thanh Ha Bridge and Road Construction and Construction Company Limited (Phuong Liet Ward, Hanoi) is having a headache due to lack of highly skilled personnel.
"We are constructing a large project in the North, and we really need a super-heavy factory construction machine operator. For more than half a year, businesses have not been able to recruit 1⁄2 of the demand. With modern industrial equipment, we do not dare to lower criteria and standards because they require very strict safety procedures, so the process of "arson" for personnel is even longer," said Mr. Binh.
According to Mr. Binh, the imbalance between supply and demand when many unemployed workers are "asking" for long-term employees not only causes difficulties for workers and businesses, but also directly affects labor productivity and sustainable development of the economy.
Training is not linked to demand
In contrast to the "thirst" for technical human resources, the labor market recorded a surplus of unskilled labor. At job placement centers, the number of untrained or only qualified workers accounts for a large proportion. However, stable job opportunities for this group are increasingly narrowing.
In Hanoi, according to the Hanoi Employment Service Center, in January 2026, the city will have about 40,000 job positions to be recruited. Of which, the demand for recruiting workers with degrees accounts for more than 50% of the total demand. However, in the opposite direction, the candidate group accounts for the majority of unskilled workers, with unskilled human resources.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong - former Director of the Institute of Labor Science of the commune, said that one of the core reasons for this paradox is that the vocational training system is not closely linked to the actual needs of businesses. The shortage of skilled workers makes many businesses unable to expand production or have to operate at low capacity. Prolonged recruitment increases costs, slows down order progress, and affects competitiveness.
On the other hand, unskilled labor leads to high unemployment and unemployment rates, unstable income, and difficult life. This is also one of the reasons for the unstable labor market, increased informal labor and social security pressure.
In the long term, the imbalance between supply and demand for labor also slows national labor productivity growth, hindering the transition to a technology-based economy and high added value, Ms. Huong commented.
To solve this paradox, Ms. Huong proposed fundamental solutions, in which businesses need to participate more deeply in the training process, from program development to receiving interns and recruiting after graduation. The "dual training" model - combining studying at school and working at a business will be an effective direction.
In parallel with training reform, it is necessary to change society's awareness of the value of vocational training. Highly skilled technical workers today not only have good income, but also have clear opportunities for promotion. orienting students' careers right from high school is a key factor to rebalance labor supply and demand.
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