Information technology industry continues to be "thirsty" for human resources

In the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, experts predict that the demand for human resources in the information technology industry will increase in 2021, while recruitment will be very difficult.

Fierce competition between businesses

In January and February, Thang Long Technology Group Joint Stock Company (headquartered in Ha Dong District, Hanoi) needed to recruit 100 information technology (IT) engineers, but the recruitment process encountered many difficulties.

Mr. Le Duy Thu, Head of IT Department of this company, said that the demand for recruiting human resources in this industry is increasing as the Government promotes digital transformation, 4.0 technology, new enterprises in the IT field are emerging more and more, leading to fierce competition, and the demand for human resources is not enough to meet.

“We cannot find people because many financially strong companies offer high salaries to attract human resources. This greatly affects the recruitment of small and medium-sized companies,” Mr. Thu said.

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Mr. Pham Van Hung, Head of Software Solutions Department of Soft Viet Technology Investment and Development Company, also said that this unit is recruiting programmers, software quality testers, interface designers, etc. with salaries of 15 - 28 million VND/month; experience and ability to withstand pressure are required. Previously, the company often posted recruitment information on social networks, but now recruitment is more difficult than before, so it has had to go through the job exchange channel to have more opportunities to recruit from workers and newly graduated university and college students.

A survey by the Hanoi Employment Service Center on labor recruitment needs at the end of January showed that the IT - telecommunications industry leads in recruitment needs with more than 1,000 positions. Mr. Vu Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of this center, said: “The positions that are in short supply are programmers, IT engineers, designers, technical staff... If in the past, IT enterprises often recruited more men, recently, the demand for recruiting male and female workers is equal. This shows that due to the shortage of human resources, competition for human resources, recruitment criteria, gender is no longer important. The main requirement for candidates is to meet the qualifications and especially the adaptability of each specific job.”

Many large corporations have to recruit resources from abroad.

According to a survey by Navigos Search Company published at the end of January, recruitment demand in the IT sector has recovered quickly after the second wave of Covid-19. Enterprises continue to recruit, but focus on high-quality personnel with the most updated technologies, to increase the competitiveness of products and services. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, there are still companies in this sector with a huge demand for development with a plan to recruit 1,000 IT engineers in 2021.

Statistics from TopDev, a software technology recruitment site, show that the demand for IT human resources is increasing, but the labor market in this field in Vietnam is always in a state of shortage in both quantity and quality. In 2021, the number of IT human resources needed is 500,000 people and there is a shortage of 190,000 people.

Forecasting the fields attracting human resources in 2021, Mr. Le Duy Thu said: “Data analysis (Big Data), artificial intelligence (AI), information security, programming... are new technologies that many companies are starting to research and are currently in great need of high-quality human resources. Especially in the field of information security, universities in Vietnam are almost unable to train to meet the requirements of skills and expertise, so many large corporations have to recruit resources from abroad."

Play an important role in digital transformation

Mr. Vu Quang Thanh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center, shared: “IT human resources play an important role in the digital transformation process, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses have had to invest in technology platforms, the demand for human resources in this industry has never cooled down. In addition to providing basic knowledge, to meet the requirements of employers, schools need to update new knowledge, train professions that master core technologies such as AI, Big Data, Blockchain... For students, it is necessary to equip them with teamwork skills and English”.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Dan, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said: “A preliminary assessment by the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shows that recruitment of labor by enterprises applying and using IT has increased sharply since the second Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, over 20 large enterprises and large corporations using IT applications are in need of recruiting human resources.

According to Thanh Nien Newspaper