Global Skills Ledger is working in Vietnam to support the textile and garment industry in building a vocational skills system that is fit for purpose and which helps to provide the skills that employers need to sustain their businesses into the future.
For the past three months and for the next few weeks our expert team will be working closely with Proskills Global Limited, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK Embassy in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, VITAS, VINATEX, British Council and other stakeholders to complete a detailed study of employer skills and education needs within the garments and textiles sector.
“The textile and garment industry in Vietnam is facing some very real skill shortages and skills gaps that are negatively affecting businesses across the country. This comprehensive workforce study will provide the underpinning insight that is needed to help bring about the systemic change that employers and government so desperately need.” Said Jonathan Ledger, CEO Global Skills Ledger.
Industry research specialist Debbie Watts has already completed a study visit of the industry in country, where she met a broad mix of Government ministers and officials, trade and industry associations, education institutes and employers. The intensive week-long programme enabled our team to not only to understand the aims and ambitions of the industry, but also to understand the political and economic context of the industry and how this fits into the national industrial strategy and skills policy.
Global Skills Ledger is providing:
- Scoping Activity – to understand the political, economic, social and technological context of the textile and garments industry and to determine how skills gaps and shortages are affecting the industry.
- Labour Market (Workforce) Skills Survey – enabling business within the sector to set out their current skills issues and what they feel will be the skills issues of the future.
- Skills Analysis – The resulting report will provide a real a detailed insight into the industry and how skills have an impact on performance and productivity. The report will include initial recommendations for consideration.
- Roundtable Action Plan Agreement – trade and industry representatives, Government officials and stakeholders will work together to review the recommendations and agree an action plan for implementation.
Much of the Vietnamese textile and garment sector imports raw materials and uses labour intensive methods to transform this into end products for local and international markets. Much of the workforce is only trained at a basic level and many workers do not possess the full range of skills that are required for such a demanding industry. Because of the intense demands, many workers come from regions outside the cities, presenting cultural challenges compared to workers from within the cities. Whilst the technical skills are important for the available jobs, the need for a range of soft skills is increasingly seen as a top priority. From a market perspective, the ability to produce finished textiles and garments is just not enough. The requirement for high quality production will serve to enable the industry to be sustainable and to grow its market capture. Finally, the onslaught of the modernisation and mechanisation of this industry means that over 90% of workers currently in jobs will not have the required skills within five years. The need to retrain and up-skill workers has never been greater.
Global Skills Ledger enabling TVET skills development in Vietnam
Work has already begun to build an understanding of the sector and an industry-wide workforce skills survey is now underway. For the first time, employers in the Vietnamese textiles and garment industry will have the chance to voice their technical education and vocational training needs – both current and anticipated future requirements. From this information, our team will be able to make a series of recommendations and support the implementation of the resulting skills plan from 2017.
Contact us for more information about how Global Skills Ledger can support your skills development needs.
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