The rise of wind, solar and distributed power systems is not only reshaping the energy industry structure but also opening up a labor market with hundreds of thousands of positions in the near future.
Speaking at the Student Forum for Scientific Research 2025 (SF25) on the morning of December 7, Ms. Nghiem Thi Ngoan, Energy Advisor of the GIZ ESP project, said that Vietnam currently has about 140,000 jobs related to renewable energy. This number could increase to 280,000 by 2030 and 400,000 by 2045, as coal and gas power plants continue to shrink.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Canh Thai delivered the opening speech at the forum. Photo: Bao Thang.
According to Ms. Ngoan, the greatest demand for human resources comes from two technology groups: wind power and solar power, each field requires a different labor structure according to each development stage. In the project development and construction stage, wind power requires a large number of concrete workers and operators, while solar power prioritizes general labor and pile driving teams.
When entering operation and maintenance, wind energy needs up to 50% of the specialized technical workforce, while in the project development phase, the technical staff group accounts for about 26%.
Ms. Ngoan informed that through a survey of about 50 businesses in the industry, there is a shortage of human resources in positions with high intellectual content such as system design, legal advisor, factory operation management. These are all positions that require university or postgraduate degrees and the ability to solve complex problems. "Many positions in the labor market do not currently exist, businesses are forced to train from a traditional energy foundation," she said.
On the other hand, engineering and natural science students currently have the highest employment rate in the engineering sector. The Net Zero trend, according to experts, will further strengthen this need in the next 10-20 years.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Canh Thai: 'The role of schools is to connect research - training - businesses so that students can graduate with appropriate capacity'. Photo: Bao Thang.
In that context, SF25 becomes a forum where engineering students directly approach the new career requirements of the energy industry. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Canh Thai, Vice Rector of Thuyloi University, emphasized that this year's theme "Energy and applications towards net zero emissions" accurately reflects the urgent needs that Vietnam is facing.
He believes that students not only need specialized knowledge but also need to quickly become familiar with professional standards, new technologies and the context of the Net Zero commitment that Vietnam aims to achieve by 2050. Energy transition also changes the way of training and research in technical universities in our country today.
“The trend of electrification, energy storage, micro-grids or small-scale renewable energy models is opening up new research directions. The role of universities is to connect research - training - businesses so that students can enter the market with appropriate capacity,” he said in his opening speech.
At the plenary session, in addition to Ms. Ngoan's report, there were also 2 speakers: Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Hoa ( Hanoi University of Science and Technology) and Mr. Tran Anh Thai (General Director of ATS).
The presentations covered topics shaping the future of the power system: electrification of transport, distributed energy systems towards 100% renewable energy, energy security and Micro-PV models in the context of the Power Development Plan VIII. The technical sessions demonstrated a clear shift from traditional operational thinking to green, flexible solutions.
Hue University officially joins the forum network. Photo: Bao Thang.
This year’s SF25 Forum attracted more than 300 students and young scientists from 15 technical universities across the country, with more than 100 scientific papers independently reviewed and presented at professional councils. Outstanding works will be published in proceedings and introduced in specialized scientific journals.
The event also marked an important expansion of the network, when Hue University officially joined as a co-organizer. The MOU signing ceremony was held right in the plenary session, opening up opportunities for academic exchange and improving the quality of research for students in the Central Highlands region.
In addition to the academic part, SF 2025 brings together nearly 20 businesses in the fields of energy, electricity - electronics, control and automation. This is an area that attracts a large number of students, as businesses offer many internship positions, operating engineers, design engineers, control engineers, and new recruitment models associated with the Net Zero roadmap.
With the rapidly increasing demand for human resources from offshore wind power, rooftop solar power and energy storage projects, many businesses said they want to reach students right from the classroom to shorten the training process.
According to the co-organizing schools, after 6 years of development, the forum is not only a place to announce students' research results but also an important platform to form a force of young engineers capable of working in new energy industries - where technical standards, safety and technology change continuously.
Students of the University of Water Resources learn about job opportunities in the field of electricity and energy. Photo: Bao Thang.
Highly appreciating these results, Mr. Nguyen Dang Cuong, Department of Innovation (Ministry of Science and Technology) said that energy transition and Net Zero target require breakthrough approaches, in which students are an important "raw material" of innovation.
Many of the ideas at the forum could become the foundation for a green economy if they are taken out of the research realm and into the marketplace.
He emphasized that the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, which was recently passed by the National Assembly in June 2025, has removed the biggest bottleneck. That is, granting full ownership and commercialization rights to research results to the unit in charge of the task. This mechanism makes it more feasible to put research products of students and lecturers into practice than before, when ownership rights were not clearly defined.
Representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology hope that SF25 will become the source of many new energy technology projects, and at the same time send wishes to students to maintain their passion for research and spirit of innovation.
Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/chuyen-dich-nang-luong-mo-ra-400000-co-hoi-viec-lam-cho-sinh-vien-ky-thuat-d788075.html
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