The Sino US Trade War Promotes The Relocation Of Manufacturing Industries To The South, Highlighting The Shortage Of Skilled Manpower In Vietnam.

The US China trade war has forced many enterprises to shift their product manufacturing business to Vietnam, exacerbating the shortage of skilled workers in Vietnam and launching a fierce battle for grabbing people. Experts call on Vietnam to carry out educational reforms to solve related problems.

According to Reuters, the trade war between the US and China has intensified and Vietnam has become one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Vietnam's exports to the United States grew by 21.5% in the 8 months of 2019, and Google (Google) parent company Alphabet and Japanese video game giant Nintendo Co (Nintendo) and other enterprises also announced plans to set up factories in Vietnam.

The trade agreement reached between Hanoi authorities and the parties has also attracted much attention, including the recent free trade agreement signed with the European Union (EU).

Maxport Stokes Jef, a garment manufacturer in Vietnam, said: "there is a lot of fresh labour, but even basic sewing workers have to be trained for at least half a year, so patience is the key." he also stressed that the lack of reform in the education system is one of the problems.

Stokes said: "Vietnam has abundant labor force but high quality technical manpower is insufficient." "This is a bottleneck".

Factory managers, consultants and human resources recruitment company said that the manpower resources of information technology personnel, engineers and executives were already quite tight, and the additional demand caused by trade wars further improved the turnover rate of skilled personnel.

It is not surprising that Vietnam's technology manpower is tight. The Southeast Asian population is only 7% of that in mainland China, and domestic infrastructure investment is still insufficient. According to the World Bank (World Bank), between 2016 and 2030, Vietnam had to spend an average of $6 billion 700 million a year in order to raise electricity by 10% throughout the year.

Human Resources Inc Wan Baohua (Manpower Group) said that only 12% of Vietnam's 57 million 500 thousand working population was high tech.

Nguyen Quang Anh, a 28 year old software researcher from Hanoi, said that before graduating from University, Huntsman company met him several times. After graduation, Ruan Guang changed 4 jobs at least 50% times a time.

"Employers are willing to provide higher salary increases because of shortage of technical manpower," Mr Ruan said. "If a technology factory moves to Vietnam to set up a factory due to a trade war, I will definitely apply for it."

Analysts say many problems stem from lack of educational reform.

In Vietnam, about 28% of the age group from 18 to 29 years old went to university, compared with 43% and 48% higher education in Thailand and Malaysia respectively.

Adam Sitkoff, American Chamber of Commerce, Hanoi, said: "many studies have shown that Vietnamese education courses are outdated, teachers are overburdened and underpaid, and graduates lack the skills to prepare for employment in the private sector".

Sitkoff said the government should take action to modernize Vietnam's education system, especially for vocational schools and universities.