In the context of rising living costs, housing and transportation pressures, and increasing job mobility, without sufficiently attractive policies, cities are highly susceptible to the paradox of having both a shortage of high-quality jobs and a shortage of skilled labor.
Recent recruitment figures show a sharp increase in labor demand in Ho Chi Minh City following the merger. Many sectors need tens of thousands of workers, but businesses are still struggling to recruit suitable candidates. Even more worrying is that a segment of young workers are no longer interested in traditional jobs, while many recent graduates lack the practical skills to meet market demands.
If Ho Chi Minh City views workers merely as a source of human resources, it will be difficult to retain them in the long term. However, if it views them as future urban citizens, Ho Chi Minh City needs a more comprehensive strategy, not only creating jobs but also providing opportunities for development and a sense of belonging. First and foremost, Ho Chi Minh City needs to shift strongly from a mindset of "training according to school capabilities" to "training according to business needs".
Following the merger, the city possesses a vast industrial and service ecosystem, encompassing logistics, e-commerce, information technology, mechanical engineering, semiconductors, and financial services. This presents an opportunity to establish high-quality vocational training centers within industrial parks and export processing zones, where businesses directly participate in curriculum design and commit to employing graduates after training.
In reality, many graduates still need to be retrained from scratch. This is both costly for businesses and discouraging for young people. Some universities have proactively changed their approach to integrate learning with practical experience, increasing the number of business semesters, and providing bilingual and vocational skills training from the first year.
For example, Lac Hong University has recently promoted business partnerships, bilingual training programs in engineering and technology fields, and early practical internship support for students to help them adapt more quickly to the modern labor environment.
Labor mobility between regions after mergers is inevitable. A portion of the unskilled workforce will be replaced by automation or will not meet the new skill requirements. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City needs to strengthen support for career transitions for workers, prioritizing short-term training programs in digital skills, e-commerce, logistics, applied AI, or operations management to help workers switch careers quickly and return to the labor market sooner.
Another issue quietly driving workers away from Ho Chi Minh City is the cost of living. Many young people are choosing to return to their hometowns or move to neighboring areas due to high rents, living expenses, and urban pressures. Without addressing the housing problem, it will be difficult to talk about retaining workers in the long term.
Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City needs to view social housing for young workers as an economic development infrastructure, not just a welfare policy. In addition, the city should expand "soft" social security policies such as affordable childcare for workers, career counseling centers, labor legal support, and community health insurance…
Ho Chi Minh City is currently the leading major city in the country. However, a megacity is only truly strong when workers view it as a place to build a long-term career, not just a temporary stopover.
According to NLDO
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/giu-nguoi-cho-sieu-do-thi-post588026.html
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