Quality human resources open the way for development

Over the past decade, Thai Nguyen has emerged as a bright spot in the country in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). By the end of 2025, the province had 244 valid FDI projects with a total registered capital of 11.38 billion USD; about 70% focused on high-tech, manufacturing and assembling electronic equipment. The presence of FDI enterprises and many other enterprises in the province has created a clear economic change; at the same time, it has posed an urgent need to develop high-quality human resources to serve the goal of sustainable development.

The presence of hundreds of FDI enterprises in the province has created a clear economic change, while also posing an urgent need to develop high-quality human resources to serve the goal of sustainable development. Photo: TL

High-quality human resource bottleneck

In Thai Nguyen province, there are currently more than 10,000 technology enterprises operating, including 227 FDI enterprises, mainly concentrated in the Southern region, in industrial parks such as Yen Binh, Diem Thuy, and Song Cong II.

In 2025 alone, FDI enterprises here need to recruit more than 5,000 engineers and bachelors in the fields of electronics, information technology, automation, precision mechanics, logistics, and production management.

The reality of recruitment in recent times shows that the problem of human resources is not only about quantity. The high-quality workforce is lacking soft skills, foreign languages, innovative thinking and a working style suitable for modern management models.

Mr. Liu Jiang Feng, HR Director of RQ Technology Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., commented: Enterprises expand production rapidly but most of the local workforce still needs to be retrained. Basic technical capacity meets the requirements but the ability to use foreign languages ​​and access new operating procedures is limited, causing the time to integrate into the job to be prolonged.

With a methodical strategy and the synchronous participation of the government, businesses and universities, Thai Nguyen is gradually affirming its position as a high-tech training and production center in the North.

Competition for labor among localities also creates new pressure. Many neighboring provinces are offering skilled workers with more attractive salaries and benefits, leading to a shift in human resources. Mr. Pham Manh Cuong, Head of Administration and Human Resources at You Sung Vina Company, said: Attracting skilled workers is increasingly difficult, businesses expect the province to soon have a suitable recruitment support mechanism to retain quality personnel.

The above challenges show that labor quality is becoming a bottleneck for the goal of improving Thai Nguyen’s competitiveness in the period of attracting high-tech projects. Without a fundamental solution to train, foster and retain human resources, the locality will find it difficult to meet the development requirements of investors in the coming years.

Education and training proactively transform

In the context of strong industrialization, Thai Nguyen's education and training system has gradually shifted to adapt to the need for developing high-quality human resources.

In the 2024-2025 school year, the University of Information and Communications Technology (Thai Nguyen University) opened a semiconductor microchip major, enrolling nearly 50 students in the first class, laying the foundation for a field considered a "breakthrough of breakthroughs" in human resource development. According to the province's goal, by 2030, the entire system is expected to train about 4,500 workers in the fields of semiconductors, information technology and artificial intelligence, including 2,000 people with university and postgraduate degrees.

The University of Information and Communication Technology (Thai Nguyen University) has invested in quite synchronous facilities, meeting the learning, practice and research needs of students.

Prof. Dr. Phung Trung Nghia, Principal of the University of Information and Communication Technology, emphasized: Training programs are closely linked to the needs of enterprises, in which cooperation with FDI enterprises is the key to creating human resources to meet new technology requirements.

Other facilities of Thai Nguyen University, such as the University of Industrial Technology, the University of Science, the University of Economics and Business Administration, also strengthen cooperation with Samsung and KD Heat Technology to create a corridor for students to intern, do projects and access modern production lines right from the second year.

As for the University of Industrial Technology - the largest technical training unit in the region - owns the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering with nearly 2,000 students. Dr. Truong Thi Thu Huong, Head of the Faculty, said: The training program is constantly innovated according to the needs of businesses, supplementing soft skills, foreign languages ​​and digital skills, helping students to work effectively in an international environment.

Students also acknowledged the effectiveness of this training model. Loc Anh Tuan, class 57DDK, shared: Practicing on modern equipment and participating in enterprise projects helps students become more confident when preparing to enter the labor market.

In fact, heavy investment in laboratories, simulation centers, mechanical workshops, and digital libraries has created a modern learning environment, helping learners access technological trends and improve applied research capacity, an important factor to meet the requirements of high-tech FDI projects.

Students of the University of Industrial Technology (Thai Nguyen University) access modern training models under the guidance of lecturers.

Linking "three houses" - Breakthrough solution in human resources

The State-school-enterprise linkage model is becoming the main axis in the strategy for developing high-quality human resources.

According to the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) report, Thai Nguyen has consistently been in the group of localities with good economic management quality, especially in the indicators of “Labor training”, “Land access” and “Government dynamism”. This is an important foundation for selectively attracting FDI capital into the semiconductor, automation, software and artificial intelligence industries - fields that require highly qualified human resources.

Mr. Doan Nhu Hai, General Director of Thai Nguyen Heat Technology Co., Ltd., emphasized: Students who study in an environment with real industrial factors will be able to work immediately without retraining. This is an advantage that helps businesses save costs and improve production efficiency. The State's coordinating role, training according to school orders and participating in the entire training chain of businesses create unity from policy to practice, contributing to overcoming the imbalance between labor supply and demand.

After the administrative unit merger, Thai Nguyen has an area of ​​over 8,300km2, a population of over 1.68 million people, and is the leading industrial, educational and economic center of the region. With a workforce of about 1 million people and more than 100,000 workers trained each year from 9 universities and 37 vocational establishments, Thai Nguyen is the 3rd largest human resource training center in the country.

The 2024 survey by the National Agency for Science and Technology Information shows that the province has 5,779 R&D personnel, of which Thai Nguyen University has 3,174 people, including 14 professors, 210 associate professors and more than 1,000 doctors and PhDs of science. This is an important foundation for the development of the semiconductor, AI and high-tech industries.

With its main products being tablets and smartphones, Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen Company Limited has made an important contribution to the economic development of the province. Photo: TL

From the practical needs of FDI enterprises, the current state of labor supply and the transformation efforts of the education and training system, it can be seen that high-quality human resources are the decisive factor for the industrial development of Thai Nguyen. As the investment speed expands, especially in semiconductors, AI and automation, the quality of human resources is not only a requirement but also a vital condition to retain investors, upgrade the production value chain and increase local competitiveness.

Thai Nguyen's implementation of a training strategy in the direction of "three-way" linkage, linking training goals with recruitment needs, standardizing according to international standards and orienting towards 2030 demonstrates a clear vision: Industrial development based on knowledge, data and innovation.

If implemented synchronously and persistently, this strategy will create a new generation of workers with skills, global thinking and high technology adaptability, becoming the driving force to bring Thai Nguyen into a period of deep industrialization, towards becoming a high-tech manufacturing center of the Northern midland and mountainous region and the whole country, and at the same time becoming a "new resource" to promote sustainable development in the digital economic era.

Semiconductor - AI human resource goals of Thai Nguyen province by 2030:

- 2,000 university and graduate level people

- 500 college graduates

- More than 2,000 intermediate level people

Of which, 50% directly serves the semiconductor industry; 50% for information technology and AI.

The goal is to meet the needs of businesses in packaging, testing, manufacturing microchips, AI devices; building a new production force based on people - technology - data.

(According to Plan No. 210/KH-UBND dated November 15, 2024 of Thai Nguyen Provincial People's Committee on training semiconductor and AI human resources by 2030).

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202512/nhan-luc-chat-luong-mo-loi-phat-trien-01041ae/