Vietnam - More return to Viet Nam after overseas study

More and more graduates who have finished their studies in other countries are choosing to return to Viet Nam and work as they see a huge opportunity to promote themselves in their homeland.

Leading companies, which are facing a highly competitive market in a rapidly developing country, are seeking to attract more highly skilled employees.

Directors of many local enterprises say they are trying to narrow the salary gap between domestic and foreign positions in an effort to attract personnel for top positions.

Tran Phuong Ngoc Thao, chairwoman of the HCM City Overseas Vietnamese Students’ Association, said that in recent years more and more students were returning to Viet Nam to seek work after studying abroad but they were concerned about local companies’ policies.

Acts as bridge

“Sometimes I receive phone calls from local company representatives, asking me to introduce people for jobs,” said Thao.

The association includes 3,400 young people and acts as a bridge between enterprises and Vietnamese students studying abroad.

Le Tri Thong, deputy general director of Dong A Bank, who had studied abroad, said local banks were closing the salary gap with foreign banks.

Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, who has studied in many countries and now works as chairman of Sai Gon Co.op, said that Vietnamese enterprises were facing a huge shortage of high-quality human resources.

“We have expanded much recently, but we cannot find talented people for high positions in our company,” Hoa said.

Other enterprises are applying flexible policies to attract high quality human resources.

Ngo Chi Duc, a former student in Australia, who returned to Viet Nam to work for six years, said he was happy with his decision and did not feel comfortable working in a foreign country.

Tieu Yen Trinh, general director of Talentnet Corporation, one of the leading human resource consulting companies in Viet Nam, said students who returned to Viet Nam should initially lower their expectations and realised that more opportunities would await them in the future.

“Daily expenses in Viet Nam are cheaper and Vietnamese staff have more opportunities to be appointed to higher positions in Viet Nam than in foreign countries,” Trinh said.

Last weekend, HCM City’s chapter of Viet Nam Youth Federation and HCM City’s Overseas Vietnamese Students’ Association organised a conference for more than 300 Vietnamese students in the UK, Singapore, the US, Australia and other countries. They discussed jobs with leading enterprises in Viet Nam.

According to figures from the Overseas Vietnamese Students’ Association in the US released last year, more than 40 per cent of the students choose to return and work in Viet Nam. The figure has continually risen in recent years.

VNS

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