The requirement is to renew the approach to vocational skills development and align it more closely with the demands of the labour market, businesses, and technological innovation process. Nhan Dan Newspaper reporter spoke with Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Manh Khuong about orientations and solutions for developing vocational skills, improving the quality of human resources, and strengthening links between training and the labour market.
Q: The 2025 Employment Law has established a new legal framework for vocational skills development. What mechanisms, policies, and key tasks will the Ministry of Home Affairs focus on completing and implementing to build a national vocational skills system, improve skills assessment and skill recognition, and promote lifelong learning among workers?
A: Improving the quality of the workforce and developing vocational skills are strategic requirements for the country's development in the new period. Amid increasingly deep digital transformations and green transformations, artificial intelligence, and international integration, a country's competitive advantage is no longer primarily based on low-cost labour but increasingly depends on the quality of its human resources and workers' vocational skills.
The 2025 Employment Law has created an important breakthrough by establishing, for the first time, a relatively comprehensive legal framework for vocational skills development, shifting the focus from “employment management to developing a vocational skills ecosystem aligned with labour market demands” and from “vocational training to vocational skills development with the participation of relevant stakeholders.” This provides a foundation for implementing comprehensive human resource development solutions in the coming period.
On that basis, the Ministry of Home Affairs will focus on completing mechanisms and policies for vocational skills development based on the provisions of the 2025 Employment Law. This includes building and developing the national vocational skills system; implementing vocational skills development measures in a coordinated manner, including promoting the implementation of a national vocational skills qualification framework; developing and completing national vocational skills standards; reforming the assessment, recognition, and certification of national vocational skills; and promoting training and further training to improve vocational skills and lifelong learning for employees.
The sector will also establish vocational skills councils at different levels to create mechanisms ensuring the participation of relevant stakeholders in vocational skills development; improve the capacity of the national vocational skills assessment organisation system; encourage businesses to participate more deeply in the vocational skills development process; and promote the recognition and mutual recognition of national vocational skills certificates between Viet Nam and other countries.
The ultimate goal is to build a skilled workforce whose members can work safely, productively, and efficiently, with better incomes and the ability to adapt and develop sustainably. This will also contribute to improving labour productivity and competitiveness of businesses and creating momentum for the transformation of the economy's growth model in the new period.
Q: A major requirement at present is for training to closely meet the actual demands of the labour market. How will the Home Affairs sector reform the forecasting of workforce demand, labour market information, and the mechanism for coordination between the state, businesses, and training institutions?
A: One of the key requirements at present is to shift from forecasting labour demand to forecasting skills demand, or the skills needed in the future. It is not enough to know how many workers the market needs. More importantly, it is necessary to know what skills businesses currently need and will need in each sector, occupation, locality, and stage of development. In other words, forecasting must identify skill shortages and gaps between workers' occupational skills and the needs of production and business activities, both vertically and horizontally, across different occupational structures and skill levels.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will focus on building a modern and synchronised system of labour market information and databases on occupational skills development, connected with national databases. It will also make strong use of digital technology, big data, and artificial intelligence to improve the quality of forecasts for workforce demand and future skills. Forecast information will be shared timely to help localities, businesses, and educational institutions proactively adjust their training and human resource development plans.
One breakthrough solution will be to build a modern system for forecasting workforce demand and future skills, based on big data, artificial intelligence, a unified labour market database, and databases on occupational skills development. Forecasting will focus on identifying the skills that businesses and the economy will need in each sector, occupation, region, and stage of development. This will provide an important basis for training institutions to adjust their curricula, update scientific and technological knowledge, and organise training that closely meets practical requirements.
At the same time, regulations on occupational skills development will continue to be implemented, shifting from “vocational training” to “occupational skills development throughout a worker's career.” Accordingly, coordination between state management agencies, businesses, and educational institutions will be strengthened in building national occupational skills standards; updating training programmes; organising training and further training to improve occupational skills within businesses and for workers; and assessing and issuing national occupational skills certificates linked to recruitment and employment.
Businesses will serve as partners, providing information on occupational skills and training needs, and will be at the centre of the occupational skills development ecosystem. The Home Affairs sector will promote close links between the state, businesses, and training institutions through the establishment of occupational skills councils at different levels. Businesses will be key partners in building national occupational skills standards, forecasting future skills needs, building training programmes, organising training at workplace and assessing occupational skills. These links will help reduce training and further training costs, improve the quality of human resources, and narrow the gap between training and labour market needs.
Q: Based on these directions, how can occupational skills development become a direct driving force for improving labour productivity and the competitiveness of the economy?
A: The directions by General Secretary and State President To Lam during his working session with the Home Affairs sector on July 8, 2026, focus on improving the quality of the workforce, creating sustainable jobs, and setting out a strategic direction for the country's development in the new period. Amid digital transformation, green transformation, artificial intelligence, population ageing, and increasingly intense global competition, the quality of human resources, especially employees' occupational skills, is becoming a decisive factor in labour productivity and national competitiveness.
International experience shows that countries' competitive advantages are no longer based mainly on an abundant workforce or low labour costs but are increasingly shifting towards the quality of human resources and the ability to adapt to new technologies. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report also points out that skills gaps are among the major barriers to the development of businesses and economies, while demand for digital skills, green skills, innovation skills, and lifelong learning continues to grow.
For Viet Nam, the 2025 Employment Law marks an important shift in policy thinking by establishing, for the first time, a relatively comprehensive and unified occupational skills development ecosystem closely linked to the labour market. This represents a shift from the mindset of “vocational training” to “occupational skills development”, from “employment management to occupational skills governance of the labour market”, and from “training based on the capacity of training institutions” to “skills development based on the actual needs of businesses and the economy.”
On that basis, the Ministry of Home Affairs will focus on improving mechanisms and policies for occupational skills development in accordance with the 2025 Employment Law and the Labour Code; building and developing the national occupational skills system; implementing occupational skills development measures in a coordinated manner; accelerating the implementation of the national occupational skills qualifications framework; building and improving national occupational skills standards; reforming the assessment, recognition, and certification of national occupational skills; promoting training and further training to improve workers' occupational skills and support lifelong learning; establishing occupational skills councils at different levels; strengthening the capacity of the national occupational skills assessment system; encouraging businesses to participate more deeply in occupational skills development; and promoting mutual recognition of national occupational skills certificates between Viet Nam and other countries.
The development of workers' occupational skills must keep pace with the speed of innovation and development of science, technology, and the economy. In this way, occupational skills development will help workers get quality and sustainable job, earn higher incomes, and better adapt to changes in the labour market. At the same time, it will provide a foundation for improving labour productivity and competitiveness, promoting innovation, and transforming the country's growth model. Investing in occupational skills today is investing in national competitiveness for the future.
Thank you very much!
