Hanoi has encouraged more than 3,000 enterprises to support vocational training institutions and develop workers' professional skills with a focus on internships, Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong said at a conference to assess work on improving the quality of human resources held in the city this week.

Accordingly, Hanoi authorities have asked the three parties - vocational training institutions, enterprises and workers - to sign cooperation agreements. "Specifically, the institutions have cooperated with enterprises in various forms, namely: training with about 1,300 enterprises that have trained more than 328,000 students, and recruitment with more than 1,700 enterprises that have hired nearly 398,000 graduates," Phong said.

Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong speaks at the conference. Photo: VGP

Every year, vocational training institutions, in coordination with small and medium-sized enterprises in the city, build capacity for workers. "Since 2021, nearly 30,000 workers at small and medium-sized enterprises have received vocational training," the deputy secretary said.

He added that the Hanoi government has also issued policies to create favorable conditions for start-ups, such as supporting the cost of business registration and providing tax incentives to help them improve competitiveness and sustainable development and to help vocationally trained workers have more job opportunities.

Phong noted that Hanoi has 1,300 handicraft villages, which are a great resource for both socio-economic development and the preservation of cultural values. "Therefore, vocational training institutions should play a more important role in contributing to the preservation of Hanoi's traditional trades," the official said.

He suggested that the municipal People's Committee soon plan a network of vocational training institutions in line with the city's 2030-2045 orientation. In particular, it is expected to quickly resolve the institutions' difficulties in implementing financial autonomy and promoting international cooperation in high-quality vocational training.

According to the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, there are currently 352 vocational training institutions in the city. In the first 10 months of 2023, vocational training institutions enrolled 220,800 people (accounting for 96% of the enrollment plan for 2023, an increase of 2.91% year-on-year). In particular, the rate of graduates who can get jobs reaches 70-80% in some sectors, up to 100% of graduates find employment.

An information technology class at the Hanoi College of Electromechanics. Photo: Tran Oanh/The Hanoi Times

Le Van Quan, Director of the Hanoi Business Support Center under the city's Department of Planning and Investment, said the city plans to train 230,000 people annually.

"Under the plan, the city has set a goal for the proportion of trained workers to reach 75-80%, of which the proportion of trained workers with degrees and certificates will reach 55-60% by 2025 and more than 60% by 2030, the percentage of workers with information technology skills will reach 80% by 2025 and 90% by 2030," Quan told The Hanoi Times.

The director stressed that by 2025, 100% of young people will have access to career and job information, and at least 10,000 will find jobs yearly.

"About 85% of young people will receive vocational training and job skills upgrading to adapt to the local and international labor market by 2025, reducing youth unemployment to less than 8%," Quan said.

He added that the plan also aims to ensure a safe working environment for workers. "The number of workers enrolled in social insurance will reach 50% by 2025 and 70% by 2030; 40% of workers will benefit from unemployment insurance by 2025 and 50% by 2030; health care for 95% of workers will be covered by health insurance by 2025 and over 95% by 2030," Quan said.

"Hanoi will fully apply software for data connectivity, shared systems, digitization, and standardization of the national labor database, among others," the director stressed.