The growth of the logistics sector in Vietnam is being encumbered by a lack of manpower, as the current workforce is able to provide less than half of the industry demand.
Local experts have expressed concern over what they see as the short supply and low qualifications and lack of professionalism of logistics personnel in the country, reported state-run VNA.
About 300,000 enterprises are involved the logistics sector, with a workforce of around 1.5 million, according to the Vietnam Supply Chain Association.
However, this labor force meets only about 40% of the demand of the industry, said the news report.
At a recent international seminar in Hanoi on logistics manpower development, Associate Professor Trinh Thi Thu Huong, from the Foreign Trade University, said the logistics industry has not really developed or contributed significantly to the national GDP despite natural conditions and a geographic location favorable for the development of the sector.
“One of the causes of the situation is human resources which are not only in low quantity but also have limited professionalism,” she was quoted as saying by Thoi Bao Kinh Te (Economic Times).
During the 2017-2020 period, the country will reportedly need roughly 20,000 high-quality workers meeting professional requirements, including adequate command of the English language, and the number is expected to surge to 200,000 by 2030.
A survey by the HCM City Research and Development Institute on the quality of logistics human resources revealed that 53.3% of enterprises lacked qualified staff who possessed good knowledge of logistics, 30% of firms had to train their employees, and only 6.7% of businesses were satisfied with the expertise of their staff.
According to Associate Professor Ta Van Loi, from the School of Trade and International Economics, there are several reasons for the shortage of qualified workforce in logistics. One is the lack of initiative by enterprises to access the labor market and their lack of long-term recruitment plans.
Another is that logistics companies have not offered suitable levels of salaries, bonuses, and other preferential conditions to motivate laborers to cultivate their skills.
On the part of employees, they lack information on orientation and career development, failing to upgrade their skills after graduation.
In order to have high-quality laborers, companies need to have periodic training programs and improve the quality of training by strengthening cooperation among businesses, universities, and associations, Huong suggested.
Businesses also need to consider setting up human resources development funds as well as cooperation with other companies in training and recruitment because most of the Vietnamese firms are still financially weak.
More attention should be paid to improving the quality of the working environment and more incentives should be offered to employees to encourage them to take more responsibilities in their work, Huong said.
