Vietnam - Spotlight on Vietnam

The country may be off most companies’ radars but with such a young, IT-ready population, its economy could take off at any moment

Vietnam has “a real energy about the place”, says Paul Farrer, chairman of Aspire Global Network. “It’s a sort of ‘can do’ place — very vibrant, very positive.”

Farrer speaks to Recruiter following Aspire’s launch in Asia, where he is due to relocate as we go to print, and says a Vietnamese arm is due in the next couple of years.

One issue Aspire will have to overcome, Farrer says, is that with locals’ monthly wages typically averaging below $100 (£63), margins don’t look so promising. “You need to find a volume market,” he says, or else focus purely on ex-patriate jobs.

In terms of hot markets, Rupali Edekar, country manager of Robert Walters Vietnam, reports “particular growth of late” in six sectors: FMCG, manufacturing, IT, healthcare/technical healthcare, retail banking and hospitality, earmarking the latter three for further growth.

However, Edekar sees “particular gaps in skill sets within the banking & financial sector, especially within the local talent market at the middle to senior management levels”, something she thinks will take some time to remedy, and also identified by Manpower’s 2011 report ‘Building a High-Skilled Economy: The New Vietnam’.

This survey also cited that 95% of respondents to a Manpower/TNS survey thought greater co- operation between business and educators was needed. Nonetheless, a regional spokesperson from computer manufacturer Intel Asia tells Recruiter that the country’s “strong focus on education”, alongside the youthful vibrancy Farrer alluded to, are key factors in the firm’s success in the region.

Intel employs over 900 people in the country, “the vast majority” locals, and has been working with the Ministries of Labour and Education & Training and various universities and colleges. It also regular sends a number of employees on career development assignments to China, Malaysia, the UK and the US.

A similar scheme is in place at software developer Harvey Nash Outsourcing, with chairman Paul Smith saying it has around 200 Vietnamese employees abroad at any one time. Such initiatives are key to making international firms “the first port of call for any student” in Vietnam, Smith says.

WORK-READY GRADUATES

Despite Manpower’s fears, Smith is impressed with the nation’s IT talent, saying “they teach their graduates IT to make them as work-ready as they can… they are much more ready than their UK counterparts”, with three-year degrees including a six-month internship as standard.

The downside of this is that in a culture that prides itself on Maths Olympiad medals, Aspire’s Farrer reports that “anything creative” is considered less important. Another issue, as Farrer puts it, is the “lengthy” process of applying for a recruitment company licence.

With Harvey Nash recruiting in Vietnam, Smith goes further, saying that “bribes can speed it up… if you are immoral enough to want to do that you can get it done quicker”. This is something that can be an issue in any emerging market, Smith adds. On the question of Vietnam as an emerging market, Farrar adds: “Lots of people are thinking that Asia’s [already] emerged, and it hasn’t. If you look at their population compared to Europe or the US, they haven’t even started yet.”

Assuming no dodgy procedures, it might be best to get your application for a recruitment company licence in now — who knows how far Vietnam’s economy will have gone by the time it gets approved.

Key indicators

Population: 90.6m (UK: 62.7m)

Area: 331,210sq km (UK 243,610 sq km)

Median age in Vietnam 28 (UK = 40)

Unemployment = 4.1% (UK = 8.3%)

(Source: CIA World Factbook)

High-level skills shortages in Vietnam: engineers, management, skilled manual trades, labourers

High-level deficits in industry knowledge: health, telecoms, machine manufacturing, retail, construction (contractors), transport/ logistics, chemical/ fertilisers (Source: Manpower/ ILSSA, 2011)

Sam Burne James

Recruiter

Business & Investment Opportunities

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