Elevating workers’ vocational skills

​(CTT-Dong Nai) - The application of technology to production by enterprises is requiring workers to have adequate vocational skills and take on many positions to master new technologies. However, high-tech workers are still scarcely available, making it difficult for enterprises to recruit workers. Enterprises have contacted universities and vocational schools to improve vocational skills for employees.

By improving their own skills, workers will be able to master the production technologies 

Creating opportunities for workers to learn
At VPIC Precision Industry Joint Stock Company (Trang Bom district), in addition to establishing a vocational training group for employees, the enterprise also invites foreign experts to provide direct vocational guidance and training to workers at the factory. Most of the employees participating in this training class operate modern CNC machines newly invested in production by enterprises. The business is affiliated with Dong Nai University of Technology to accept students for internships and pay for all of the interns' expenses. Many students who perform well will be paid the same salary as normal workers and will be accepted by the enterprise to work if there is a need.
According to Mr. Do Dinh Hiep, Production Director of the company, employees in order not to become backward when enterprises switch to modern machineries in production, they need to be aware of their skills and improve them. The support from enterprises is important, but above all it is the efforts and attempts of each person to explore, create, research and improve their own skills. If employees quickly adopt new modern technologies into production and participate in improvement, their income level will increase. In addition, many workers have a strong foothold or in key positions at enterprises with income commensurate with their skills.
With the goal of improving vocational skills for employees, Dong Phuong Co., Ltd (Trang Bom district) has cooperated with Sonadezi College of Technology and Management to provide vocational training for officers, employees and workers of the company in fashion design and sewing industry. Many employees selected to go to school have graduated and have well applied their acquired knowledge and skills to production at the company. This is a new direction from the company to create skilled and quality resources, contributing to increasing labor productivity.
Mrs. Tran Thi Duyen, General Director of the company, said that digital transformation and technology development in production are demanding skills and qualifications from employees to create quality products that are up to date. Therefore, the enterprise encourages its officials and employees to get some training to improve their skills to meet job requirements. In the first class associated with vocational schools, the enterprise selected workers who were working as managers to attend the schools and re-trained young personnel. In the future, the company will continue to create opportunities for workers who work directly in production to go to school so that they will acquire vocational skills suitable to the reality of production activities at the company.
To train and supply labor for enterprises according to their recruitment needs, vocational education institutions need to regularly send surveys to enterprises to know their recruitment needs; at the same time, making adjustments to the training plan, especially the key occupations that enterprises are in dire need of.
Difficulty in recruiting skilled labors
Participating in job exchanges recently, many businesses said that they faced many difficulties in recruiting skilled and high-tech workers, especially those who work in mechanics, electronics, and industrial electricity. Enterprises are forced to recruit unskilled workers and it takes a long training process for new employees to receive the job. Meanwhile, a dilemma is that very few businesses contact vocational schools to provide vocational training for their employees or demand highly skilled resources from these schools, but only cooperate to find trainees and apprentices for their companies.
According to the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the province currently has 57 vocational education institutions. These institutions have invested in development and innovation to approach the 4.0 technology era. At the same time, they coordinate with enterprises to develop training programs and curricula, create opportunities for students to practice and welcome students to work after graduation. However, in some industries, the number of trainees has not met the demand for high-skilled workers of enterprises. Therefore, it requires more active participation from enterprises in the process of training highly skilled workers.
Recently, the German Organization for Cooperation and Development (GIZ) has supported vocational education institutions in Dong Nai in developing vocational skills for employees in the new situation. A representative of Lilama 2 International College of Technology (Long Thanh district) said that since GIZ supported the school in vocational skills training models for employees at enterprises, workers quickly accumulated new knowledge and skills and applied them to practical works at enterprises. Since then, it showed that the association of vocational training was effective, improving the quality of human resource training, and meeting the job requirements.
In fact, the escalation of digital technology application and the trend of utilizing robots in production in many enterprises are posing challenges to employees. Many businesses in the province have replaced workers with robots in production. Meanwhile, the abundant and cheap labor is no longer a factor creating advantages, but occupational skills of employees is. More than ever, employees need to equip themselves with many necessary skills to be able to get stable jobs, and be able to meet the requirements from employers. In addition, it is necessary to know foreign languages, have positive attitude and working discipline, ... to perform effectively at work.
According to Mr. Quach Thuan Duc, General Director of Junmay Textile Co., Ltd (Trang Bom district), the investment in modern technologies and automation in production is a trend that enterprises have followed and brought about efficiency. When modern production lines come into operation, enterprises will choose highly skilled, competent and adaptable workers to operate them. Each production line only needs 2 workers to control, but their creativity and skills will play an important role in vital production departments of enterprises. ​