The labour force is a decisive factor in the success or failure of industrial zone development in northern Bac Ninh province. Thus, boosting workforce quality is a key task to meet short-term and long-term requirements for sustainable development of industrial parks in the province.
Abundant workforce
Bac Ninh is the smallest province in the country, with a population of over 1 million, of which 50.8 percent are female. Each year, 12 percent of population, or 122,000 people, reach working age. According to surveys, Bac Ninh needs to create 110,000 new jobs from 2010 to 2015, or 22,000 new jobs each year.
These figures represent abundant human resources. Each year, about 50,000 students graduate from high school, of which 35 percent continue on with college and university education. In other words, some 17,500 students will continue studying while a majority attend shorter training courses in vocational schools or do farming. From 10 - 15 percent, or 6,000 - 7,500 people, are likely to work in industrial parks.
Reality and solution of labour quality
Bac Ninh people are traditionally hard-working, intelligent, enthusiastic, and self-reliant. They can quickly acquire knowledge of advanced and modern technologies. This is one comparative advantage of Bac Ninh province in attracting investors.
However, professional skills and managerial experience of Vietnamese people are generally low, let alone the negative impacts of small business running habits.
Currently Bac Ninh basically meets the demand for low-level workers, not high-level ones. Actually, many companies have to recruit foreigners for senior positions. This reality is partly resulted from largely theoretical training, limited foreign languages, and slow technology transfer of foreign companies.
According to statistics, about 74 percent of labourers in Bac Ninh want to work for one employer for a long time, 24 percent are ready to move for better career opportunities, particularly better promotion and higher incomes, and some 2 percent are fired for low working levels, bad attitudes or weak health, and have difficulty finding employment in other companies. According to preliminary statistics, only about 50 percent of labourers work with knowledge they acquired from vocational training, particularly accounting, electricity and engineering, while the rest do not, especially administration and human resource management.
In labour relations, educational level, competency, astuteness, flexibility, responsiveness and adaptability determines the incomes of workers. To reduce disadvantages and promote professionalism, workers must be equipped with professional knowledge, foreign languages, discipline, good behaviour and professional attitudes to employers. They must be trained to understand the practices in different countries, especially their employers.
Currently, with the target of developing Bac Ninh into a basically industrialised province by 2015, the province will require a well-trained workforce. In the coming time, Bac Ninh must upgrade its training of human resources - a precious asset for the cause of renovation and development. Human resources should be considered a comparative advantage and the province should attract high-skilled workers from other localities. Then, it must create a more attractive living environment to keep them, renovate investment promotion strategies, and limit labour-intensive projects. Companies need to be encouraged to employ a variety of workers and improve living standards of their employees.
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