Demand for skilled workers keeps rising

(07-11-2009)

Workers make textile and garment products. The online labour market in the third quarter has shown signs of recovery. —VNA/VNS Photo Van Khanh

HCM CITY — An increasing shortage of marketing personnel and the local hiring of qualified expatriates for managerial positions were new trends identified in a third quarter report by www.VietnamWorks.com, an online recruitment firm.

The report, released on Wednesday, said the online labour market in the third quarter showed signs of constant recovery with a rise in labour demand indices, but concluded job seekers will still cope with difficulties, especially in competitive sectors.

The labour demand index for the third quarter increased by 11.4 per cent over the second, and was up by 52.4 per cent against the first quarter of this year, the report said.

Of the 50 job categories tracked by VietnamWorks.com, 24 recorded increments in labour demand indices, 21 remained stagnant, and the remainder dropped.

Agriculture/forestry had the highest growth in labour demand, increasing by 100 per cent over the second quarter, although its index was not high at 0.2. In contrast, the textile/garment indusry registered the largest fall, down by 25 per cent over the second quarter.

Agriculture, forestry

The agriculture/forestry sector also recorded the highest third- quarter growth in labour supply at 20 per cent over QII. The labour supply index of the construction industry had the biggest loss, lessening by 13.9 per cent.

Overall, the labour supply index for the third quarter was slightly down by 2.8 per cent against the second, but still 6.2 per cent higher than that of the first quarter.

The rising trend of online labour demand index for two consecutive quarters in 2009, coupled with the slowdown in the online supply index, has helped shorten the labour gap, easing the pressure on job seekers, the report said.

Chris Harvey, managing director of VietnamWorks.com said, "Now that the market has begun to recover, companies are turning to their growth mode, and the labour market is heating up with more recruitment activities.

"However, it would take time for the labour market to regain its activities as compared with 18 months ago.

"Jobseekers, in general, should bear in mind that for the time being they still do not have a bargaining position in salary negotiations."

Despite the impact of the economic downturn, some industries and sectors continued to experience high labour demand.

The marketing industry was the only one among the 50 studied to leave the labour supply index.

Hiring expats

The fact that the demand-supply gap increased for two consecutive quarters, indicated that the labour market was still in need of qualified marketing personnel, the report said.

Accompanying the third quarter upswing in labour demand indices, the market witnessed a new trend in hiring expatriates for managerial positions.

With the global economic downturn, many foreigners, including Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese), were coming to Viet Nam to look for assignments, shaping a new trend termed "Local International Hire."

"They have the skills and experience, are already in this country and obviously interested is staying. It doesn’t cost the company extra to relocate them. Therefore, with realistic expectations on compensation and benefits, they could end up getting a suitable job," the report said.

It noted that although the labour demand for management level positions was not high in quantity, the labour supply index for expatriates was still higher than the demand index.

The report found that the top five industries in labour demand and supply remained unchanged from the second quarter. The top five were key industries for which manpower demand was always high irrespective of the economic climate, the report said.

For the third quarter, sales jobs recorded the highest demand, with the index increasing by 12.5 per cent against the second quarter, followed by Accounting/Finance, Engineering, Administrative/Clerical, and IT-Software.

Meanwhile, the top five supply index job categories, which showed no increase over the second quarter, were Administrative/Clerical, Accounting/Finance, Banking/Investment, Engineering, and Human Resources.

Apart from the first category, which remained unchanged, the remainder recorded negative growth.

Most competitive

The application index in the third quarter was recorded at 6.4, staying constant when compared with the second quarter, meaning jobseekers continued to find it hard to land jobs, the report said.

The Administrative/Clerical, Export-Import, Human Resources, Customer Service, and Interpreter/Translator categories continued to be the most competitive.

The five least competitive job categories in the third quarter were Securities Services, Healthcare/Medical, Warehouse, Legal and Agriculture/Forestry.

The report said the high competitiveness seen in the labour market recently could have positive spinoffs.

Harvey said it would motivate jobseekers to learn more and consider "more aspects before taking an offer, and think more about long-term career stability and personal development." — VNS