Nearly 60% of Vietnam’s employers have planned to recruit more in the first half of this year, despite the ongoing impact of Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Vietnam’s 2021 Employment Outlook survey. 

Strongest recruitment plans for the next three to six months are seen in manufacturing and processing sectors. Photo: Thanh Hai

Positive economic growth would likely boost confidence for Vietnam’s employers to employ more workers in the future. 

“Currently, we have received numerous recruitment orders from domestic and foreign enterprises, especially in manufacturing and processing such as electronic components assembly, car and motorcycle manufacturing and assembling, packaging, warehouse & transportation,” Le Thi Kim, Head of Staffing & Outsourcing, North at ManpowerGroup Vietnam said. 

Top recruitment sectors 

According to the survey, the employment outlook is very positive with up to 66% of the employers expecting their recruitment plans to increase within the next three months, followed by 22% foreseeing that within the next six months. In the long term, only 3.2% of surveyed businesses planned to increase recruitment demand like in the pre-Covid-19 period. 

Strongest recruitment plans for the next three to six months were reported in manufacturing and processing (with 19% of respondents), construction (19%), wholesales, retail and trading (7%), transport and logistics (6%). Information, communications and technology sector also recovered thanks to the economic growth, accounting for 5% of those planning to hire in the first half of 2021.

Chart: Phi Nhat

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), Vietnam is among several ASEAN economies having attained positive GDP growth at 2.9% in 2020, despite serious and swift evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world. 

Manufacturing and processing is likely to grow stronger in the long-term, playing a key role in leading the growth by contributing 1.25% to the economy. 

Besides the positive sign of the economy, foreign investment continues to flow into Vietnam, creating more business and job opportunities in the country, according to Nguyen Thu Trang, Country Head of Permanent Recruitment, Executive Search and Consulting Services at ManpowerGroup Vietnam. 

“The labor market is seeing a strong increase in demand for positions that require digital-related skills such as business analysts, digital transformation, cybersecurity, fintech, and software engineer,” Trang said.

In tandem with the positive hiring outlook, when asked what human resources services they plan to use from workforce solutions providers, 31% of the employers choose permanent recruitment and executive search services, followed by 30% opting for outsourcing services. Payroll and recruitment processing outsourcing services were picked by about 13% and 11% of respondents, respectively. 

Covid-19 slightly impacted some 36.4% surveyed businesses and nearly 50% said they still operated normally in the time of the crisis. However, given the fact that Vietnam has recorded another wave of community transmission since late January 2021, and due to the pandemic complexity across health and socio-economic fields, businesses, notably small and medium ones, are to brace themselves for challenges ahead. 

The survey was conducted on 442 representatives in human resource and talent acquisition roles from 16 different industries in Vietnam.