Photo: Le Anh Tuan, WUSC-Vietnam

Introductions

Adam McCartyChief Economist, Mekong Economics Ltd.•Adam first came to Vietnam in 1990 for his economic doctoral studies at the Australian National University, Canberra. •He returned in 1991 to conduct six months of fieldwork surveying the incomes and expenditures of 1,000 Hanoi households. •Adam subsequently worked as a consultant conducting policy research and project evaluations for donor agencies, including the World Bank, UNDP, and most bilateral donors...

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Introductions

Rohan MohantyEconomist, Mekong Economics Ltd.

Vinh PhamProject Coordinator, Mekong Economics Ltd.

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Outline for the dayMorning Session – 8am-12pm

8:00am-8:15am Arrival and registration

8:15am-8:30am Welcome and introduction

8:30am-9:45am The Business Needs Assessment Project Review (inc. Questions and Answers)

9:45am-10:00am Tea break

10:00am-10:15am Four pictures, one word exercise

10:15am-11:15am Prioritising needs exercise

11:15am-12:00pm Lessons learned from the survey

12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch break

Outline for the day

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Afternoon Session – 1:30pm-4pm

1:30pm-1:45pm Award ceremony

1:45pm-2:15pm Brainstorming - Tailoring the questionnaire

2:15pm-2:30pm Tea break

2:30pm-3:00pm Follow-ups

3:00pm-3:30pm Comments and feedback

3:30pm-3:45pm Concluding remarks

3:45pm-4:00pm Closing remarks

STLM Business Needs AssessmentProject ReviewBy Mekong Economics Ltd.

Monday 26th November 2012

Project Background & Context

• Skill Training for the Labour Market (STLM) project

• Current economic climates in Vietnam– Unemployment - 52.58 million people aged over

15– Underemployment – 3% of the labour force in

2011

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Graduates in Despair

Since I graduated, my main job everyday is to surf web and buy newspapers to find employment information, before calling the employers for further details. I've visited many companies, but I have gained almost nothing, because all these places offer low-wage jobs that are unrelated to my major. I graduated a year ago but [I] still have to ask my parent's for money. I feel so sad but if I return, I will not find any suitable jobs. I would rather stay in Ha Noi, as there are more opportunities here than in my province. I am also considering finding a job outside of my major. Whatever happens, I have to make ends meet.

Quoted from Phan Kim Anh, a university graduate from Thai Binh Province8

Objectives (part 1)

1. To ensure that the staff from the 8 votech colleges/universities have a firm basic understanding of the purpose and relevance of the BNA, to impart a sense of ownership;

2. To gather accurate and up-to-date information about the demands of local employers;

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Objectives (part 2)

3. To identify key trends and make recommendations from the findings of the BNA survey; and

4. To equip the 8 votech colleges/universities with the evidence-base that they require to improve their curricula and other services offered to their students.

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Expected Outcomes (part 1)

1. Staff from the 8 votech colleges/universities have the capacity to conduct future needs assessments;

2. Increased communication and strengthened relationships between the 8 votech colleges/universities and the local businesses that they surveyed;

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Expected Outcomes (part 2)

3. Decision-makers at the 8 votech colleges/universities adjust the curricula to reflect the demands of local employers; and

4. An increase in the proportion of graduates from the 8 votech colleges/universities that have attained a job that is well-suited to their educational and work background and makes a meaningful contribution to society, within one year of graduation.

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Project Timeline

• Nov 2012 – First workshop• Dec 2012 – Initial questionnaire designed• Dec 2012-Jan 2013 – Capacity building workshops

implemented, and feedback collected on and improvements made to the questionnaire

• Early Jan 2013 – Questionnaire was finalised and surveys started

• End of Jan 2013 – Completed data entry spreadsheets sent to WUSC

• End of March 2013 – Report containing findings delivered and final workshop delivered

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Sample Selection Process

Business Needs Assessment Survey:

•7-10 local businesses per college/university (minimum)

•Informal relationships

•Reasonable distance from the college/university

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Limitations (part 1)

a) No specific data collected (standardised questionnaires)

b) Statistically small sample (per college/university)

c) Non-representative sample (compared to businesses in the local economy)

d) Selection bias

e) Measurement error

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Limitations (part 2)

f) Sensitive data

g) Lack over independence to adjust curricula

h) Overburdened staff

i) Unfavorable recruitment practices (word of mouth)

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Sample Breakdown

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General Findings (part 1) - Core business activities

Core business activities (% of all businesses):•24% hospitality;•20% manufacturing;•18% food and beverages;•14% housekeeping (cleaning services) or construction;•11% tourism;•10% agriculture; and•2-7% in accountancy/audit/finance, information technology, healthcare, marketing, real estate, mechanics or international trade;

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General Findings (part 2) - Expanding businesses

67% of businesses plan to expand their business activities in the coming 5 years, into the following areas: •Customer services;•High-end property construction;•Supermarket construction;•Light and heavy manufacturing;•Tourism, restaurants, and hotels;•Power sector; and•Marketing

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General Findings (part 3) - Workforce

• Variety of businesses by size, between 4 and 3,000 employees

• 33% of businesses have female-dominated workforces

• Average age of employees was 31 for males and 29 for females

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General Findings (part 4) - Employees’ Education

Highest level of educational attainment (% of permanent employees):

•25% votech qualifications•17% college qualifications•26% undergraduate qualifications•3% postgraduate qualifications or higher

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General Findings (part 5) - Junior-level employees and

salaries• Almost 30% of all permanent employees are

of junior-level

• Junior-level staff earned 37.7 million VND (1,813 USD) on average in 2012

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General Findings (part 6) - Recruitment practices

• 50% of all junior-level employees were recruited by word of mouth

• 33% of all junior-level positions were advertised online (dedicated business websites or job sites)

• 13% of junior-level employees were recruited after the employers visited the college/university

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General Findings (part 7) - Job application skills

• Job interview skills are most important

• First impressions take second place

• CVs and cover letters appear to be less important

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General Findings (part 8) - Practical experience

• 73% of employers highly value practical experience and professional qualifications, such as:– Language proficiency certificates (e.g. IELTS,

TOIEC, and TOEFL);– Accountancy qualifications;– Electrical engineering certificates;– Marketing certificates; and– So on…

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General Findings (part 9) - Practical experience

72% of businesses planned to recruit more junior-level staff over the coming year for the following positions:•Mechanics;•Accountants;•Engineers;•Garment factory workers;•Bakers;•Hospitality staff;•Food processing factory workers; and•So on…

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Businesses’ Needs (part 1) - Traits

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Businesses’ Needs (part 2) – Soft-skills

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Businesses’ Needs (part 3) – Sectoral Breakdown

• Entertainment-related services– Tourism;– Recreation; – Hospitality; – Food and beverages; and – Housekeeping;

• Non-entertainment-related services

– Accountancy/Audit/Finance;– Information technology;– Healthcare;– Marketing;– Teaching and training; and– Real estate;

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• Industrial production– Manufacturing;– Mechanics;– International trade; and– Construction; and

• Agricultural production.

Businesses’ Needs (part 4) – Sectoral Breakdown

Entertainment-related services

Non-entertainment-

related services

Industrial production

Agricultural production

• Teamwork;• Vietnamese

language;• Communication;

and• Basic English

• Teamwork;• Vietnamese

language;• Communication;• Time

management; and

• Basic numeracy

• Teamwork;• Vietnamese

language;• Communication;• Basic numeracy;

and• Professionalism

• Teamwork;• Communication;• Time

management; • Professionalism;

and• Organisation

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Essential soft-skills:

Businesses’ Needs (part 5) – Sectoral Breakdown

Entertainment-related services

Non-entertainment-

related services

Industrial production

Agricultural production

• Advanced English

• Problem solving; and

• Critical thinking

• Basic computing;

• Advanced English; and

• Leadership

• Basic numeracy; and

• Conflict management

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Less important soft-skills:

Businesses’ Needs (part 6) – Job-specific skills

• Lots of jobs – please refer to the Table 3.1 to 3.4 in the report

• Generally, the information provided was intuitive (e.g. Sales Clerk requires sales skills), very little was unexpected.

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Votech College/University Graduates in the workplace

• 84% of businesses in the entire sample hired “votech graduates”

• 4/14 of those that didn’t employ “votech graduates” said that they planned to in the future

• Employers that weren’t interested in hiring “votech graduates” said that it was because they lack practical experience and cost too much to train

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Training and Professional Qualifications (part 1)

• 90% of employers said it was mandatory to train new junior-level employees.

• Type of training varied by sector:– Entertainment-related services sector focused on soft-skills– All other sectors focused on job-specific/technical skills– Health and safety training was prevalent in all sectors except

agriculture– Some management training in the entertainment-related services

sector– Some other training in languages and work regulations

• 47% of mandatory training resulted in professional qualifications being awarded 34

Training and Professional Qualifications (part 2)

Employers across all sectors are looking for potential employees with professional qualifications in the following areas:•Fire safety;•First aid;•Health and safety;•Workplace safety; and•Security.

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Additional Comments from the Employers

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Conclusion

• Capacity building workshops went well in general

• The survey and data entry process were completed well on the whole

• Some interesting finding emerged from the data collected

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Evaluation

For the next survey:•Choose larger samples and don’t rush data collection;

•Choose types businesses according to the courses that you offer and the proportion of students studying that course

– However, try not to just choose businesses with existing relationships to the college; and

•Tailor the questionnaires.38

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Thanks for your attention and participation

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