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Businesses organize a series of career guidance activities for high school students interested in creative fields.

Worrying about staff cuts

Faced with the fluctuations of the world, not outside the affected areas, the labor situation in Vietnam also faces many difficulties. According to the results of the 2024 Salary and Labor Market Report surveyed by Navigos Search in the third quarter of 2023, up to 454/555 enterprises in Vietnam responded that they were affected by market fluctuations in 2023, an estimated number accounting for more than 82% of the total number of enterprises.

To cope with the volatile market, more than 68.7% of businesses chose to cut staff and 52.6% of businesses stopped recruiting new employees. The priority group for recruitment is those with work experience but not yet in management; followed by those who have just graduated from related majors and department managers. Director and intern positions are the two groups with the lowest recruitment demand.

“Not only in Vietnam, but businesses and employees around the world are applying solutions to cope with economic fluctuations, changing from thinking, business operations, equipping necessary skills, to recruitment activities. It is necessary for businesses and employees to grasp the overall, objective picture of the market situation to be best prepared, adapt and keep up with changes that may occur,” said Mr. Ryosuke Kanemoto, CEO of Navigos Group.

Both employers and employees need to equip themselves with and update the overall picture to be able to adapt and change promptly.

This requires professional agencies, educational organizations and businesses to pay attention to career guidance activities. Focusing on developing early career guidance from junior high school to high school, constantly updating information on the domestic and foreign labor market will help students, parents and employees to grasp and prepare timely response plans.

School Tour is a new form but has been implemented by many educational institutions and businesses to equip high school students with updated career knowledge. The program is known as a series of career orientation events for high school students nationwide. Early career orientation will create momentum for students to discover their hidden abilities and open up their personal potential.

Understanding the qualities and foundation will help students have a correct perception of their own abilities, combined with grasping market trends to shorten the time on the development path.

“The career guidance program combines career orientation and practical business experience. We provide young people with new knowledge about current and near future career trends. Connecting businesses, building a comprehensive educational ecosystem in both theory and practice so that you can develop a solid professional foundation and effectively improve your professional skills, ready to enter the future labor market," said Ms. Thuong Vu, Director of Sconnect Academy.

Bright spots of the labor market in 2024

Despite the complicated developments in 2023, according to the assessment of leading experts, it is expected that in early 2024, the labor market will still have bright spots thanks to the emergence of many new occupations, new positions, and trends focusing on artificial intelligence, digital technology, data processing, digital platform content creation, and business analysis. According to experts, the demand for human resources in the field of artificial intelligence is very large both in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular. In Vietnam, in recent times, technology enterprises have continuously launched training programs and attracted human resources in this field.

According to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), by 2027, 69 million new jobs are expected to be created worldwide. At the same time, 83 million jobs are likely to be on the margins of the labor market, but at the same time, more than 14 million jobs will disappear.

This shows that if workers choose the wrong career and the wrong direction from the beginning, they may not be able to survive in the volatile labor market. But the picture will still have bright colors along with dark areas.

According to the 2024 Salary and Labor Market Report surveyed by Navigos Search, the Vietnamese labor market still has positive bright spots. 43.3% of workers said they received a salary increase of 5-10%. Only a minority of employees received a salary reduction. Nearly 70% of workers still receive full mandatory benefits.

In order to promptly adapt and cope with unpredictable fluctuations in the future, workers need to regularly update market news and new trends. In particular, early career guidance not only for students and new employees but also for middle and high school students will be a future trend. From there, young people can proactively learn to develop soft skills right from school, grasp new work trends, and apply AI to improve work efficiency.