Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep deliveredthis message at the “Workshop on the World of Work and Labour MarketInformation in the Digital Age” which was held in Hanoi on May 11 inpreparation for the High Level Policy Dialogue on Human Resources Developmentin the Digital Age.
The workshop takes place at a time when the world of work isexperiencing great structural changes due to technological advances,specialised production and growing demand for highly skilled workers and changinglabour relations.
Technology and digitalisation are expected to make importantcontributions to improving productivity, expanding economic growth andgenerating jobs. But, technology and digitalisation are also creating risksrelated to employment.
A study conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) showedthat new technologies will be applied thoroughly in labour-intensiveindustries, resulting in big cuts in low-skilled labour workforce.
The APEC member economies are facing challenges in satisfying the manpowerdemand for the digital economy. These are also challenges that the economiesare coping with in implementing structural reforms to support investment inhuman resources development and market restoration.
For Vietnam, Diep said the governmentalready set out the tasks of renovating the growth model, restructuring theeconomy and taking full advantage of scientific and technological advances,towards improving quality of economic growth and bolstering rapid, sustainabledevelopment.
He stressed that Vietnam is lackinghighly-skilled technicians and workers, especially in the key industries ofmechanical engineering, electronics, and electric techniques as well as insectors that have strong impacts on high and sustainable growth amidinternational integration.
The shortage of highly-skilled workers hasworsened due to shortcomings in labour demand-supply connection, Diep said,adding that improving the labour market information system and reducing timefor labour demand-supply connection is seen as an urgent and feasible task inthe age of information technology.
The Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) is sparing no effortto build a draft document on human resources development in the digital age. This initiative is aimed at enhancing regional cooperation in personneltraining to cope with challenges in the digital age, focusing on labour marketdevelopment, education and vocational training, and social security, Diep said.
Experience, vocational training models and policies on the labour marketand social security shared at the workshop will help the APEC economies drawlessons and boost cooperation in the process of sustainable development.-VNA
