Labour market trends in the digital age were highlighted at a conference jointly held by ManpowerGroup Vietnam and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) on Tuesday in the capital.

During the event, Deputy Minister of MOLISA Nguyen Ba Hoan said digital transformation has been changing all areas of social life, including labour and employment. It will affect the employment structure, requiring employees to change their working methods to be able to adapt and seize opportunities in the market.

Thus, businesses should change the traditional way of operation to fit a digitally transformed society and the Government should make flexible and timely decisions and digitise management, Hoan suggested.

According to Hoan, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a factor accelerating the process of digital transformation in the field of labour and employment in Viet Nam.

However, Viet Nam is also facing challenges in labour quality because the proportion of workers with degrees and certificates at a high level accounts for just over 11 per cent of the total workforce, as per ManpowerGroup’s research.

At the same time, the country's labour productivity is lower than that of many countries in ASEAN besides limited English skills of labourers, Hoan said, adding that workers with limited skills will be more affected and the risk of job loss is also higher under the impact of new technology and science development.

Meanwhile, the increasing application of digital technology, smart devices, robotics, etc. in production and business activities is posing challenges to Viet Nam's low-skilled labour market.

"The abundant and cheap labour source will not be a factor creating competitive advantages and attracting foreign investment. Viet Nam may also be under pressure in job creation and will face an increase in unemployment or underemployment because of its large population but low quality of labour," he said.

"Given this context, comprehensive solutions will be required to improve the quality of recruitment and training of human resources for a future-proof workforce,” he added.

In order to develop the labour market to adapt to the digital transformation process, over the years, the MOLISA and its units have focused on implementing many solutions, including the application of technology and digitisation in connecting labor supply and demand, strengthening the consulting and job placement activities of employment service centers across the country and giving priority to improving vocational skills for workers to meet new requirements.

Andree Mangels, General Manager of ManpowerGroup Vietnam said technology is constantly evolving and so will the digital skills of workers. Employers need to adopt an agile approach to employee skilling and create long-term learning strategies that equip their workforce to do jobs that exist now and those that will be created in the future.

Participants at the event agreed that under the dual impacts of the digital age and the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of work for Viet Nam will witness significant evolution in terms of workers and the workplace.

“Major trends like the growing importance of contingent workers, companies’ effort to rebuild employee capabilities via skill development programme, and the rising of hybrid work model in the new normal will take place,” Nguyen Xuan Son, Country Operations Manager, Staffing and Outsourcing services, ManpowerGroup Vietnam said.

During the event, Nguyen Thi Nga, representative of World Bank on employment, emphasised the importance of digital skills. Those are the range of skills, abilities, knowledge, and work habits, allowing people to access and use digital technologies.

"This is an important requirement for workers in the context of constantly changing work patterns and nature," she said. — VNS