Jobs for the future - Vietnam case study

William Smith, Nguyen Ngoc Anh and Do Quynh Chi
Additional contact information
Nguyen Ngoc Anh: Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Hanoi, Vietnam

No 185, Working Papers from Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Vietnam

Abstract: Based on a qualitative assessment of economic, social, and technological factors, this case study forecasts employment trends in Vietnam over the next five to ten years, highlighting a continued structural shift from agriculture toward manufacturing and services. The report identifies that while agriculture remains a vital employment buffer, future job growth will be driven largely by foreign direct investment and trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which are shifting manufacturing hubs (particularly in electronics and garments) from China to Vietnam. However, the current labor market suffers from a supply-demand mismatch, characterized by an excess of banking and finance graduates alongside acute shortages of skilled technical staff and unskilled factory labor. As labor costs rise and industries upgrade technology, the study concludes that Vietnam can no longer rely solely on low-cost labor and must reform its education system to prioritize "soft skills"-such as critical thinking and teamwork-to meet the demands of a modernizing economy.

Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://depocenwp.org/modules/download/index.php?id=185 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dpc:wpaper:0316

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Vietnam Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Doan Quang Hung ().