Amid a concerted push towards its green transformation, Vietnam is still facing a shortage of workers in possession of green skills.

Along with digital transformation, green growth has been identified as a pillar
in Vietnam’s move towards sustainable development. With the country’s green growth
strategy opening up many new industries, the demand for green staff has also
been increasing, from recruitment and skills training to modernizing human resources
(HR) management models, which has confirmed there is a shortage of workers trained
in green skills.

Key task

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that, by 2030, the global
sustainable energy transition could create 25 million jobs, while the Asia-Pacific
region alone could generate 14.2 million green jobs if countries invest heavily
in environmental issues.

In Vietnam, the National Green Growth Strategy for the 2021-2030 Period with
a Vision to 2050 and the National Action Plan on Green Growth for the 2021-2030
Period identify HR development as one of the key tasks. In particular, they emphasize
the development of green skills, raising awareness, and enhancing State management
capacity over green growth at all levels. The implementation of these measures requires
inter-sectoral, inter-level coordination and synchronized investment from the central
to local levels.

“Green staff are employees who implement the policies and strategies of the
business from the leadership level and truly transform the business,” said Ms. Nguyen
Thu Trang, Head of Manpower Brand at Manpower Vietnam. “Green recruitment and development
will continue to increase strongly in Vietnam in the time to come. This is not just
a global trend, reflecting the increasing demand for green standards in business
operations and products, but is also being promoted by policies from the Vietnamese
Government.”

At the “Human Resource Development – A Prerequisite for Digital Economy and
Green Growth” workshop, held on August 11 in Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Long, Deputy
Director of the Department of Employment at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the
world has witnessed many changes and upheavals over the past five years that have
had a strong impact on the strategic calculations of businesses and countries, with
Vietnam, as an alternative manufacturing center in the ASEAN region, among
those affected.

At the same time, global tariff confrontations continue to intensify, not only
affecting trade in goods but also redirecting supply chains while setting new barriers
in traceability, green workers, and carbon monitoring. “Vietnam needs to adapt quickly
to these movements, not only to protect the supply chain but also to take advantage
of opportunities from investment shifts, creating stable jobs for the domestic workforce,”
Mr. Long told the workshop.

Mr. Tran Hong Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Banking Trade Union, said
the banking sector has been pioneering the development of green credit and green
banking, with a clear orientation provided by Directive No. 01/CT-NHNN dated January
7, 2020, from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on promoting green credit growth and
managing social and environmental risks in credit-granting activities. This requires
that workers possess in-depth knowledge about the environment, an understanding
of green financial products and services, and awareness about saving energy and
effectively managing resources in all activities. “Green skills not only relate
to knowledge but also to the practical ability to minimize negative impacts on the
environment, optimize resource use, and contribute to the sustainable development
goals of businesses and communities towards a circular economy,” he said.

Lack of personnel

According to the National Statistics Office at the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam’s
workforce aged 15 and over reached 53 million people in the first half of 2025,
of which employed workers totaled 51.9 million. The rate of trained workers with degrees and certificates
accounted for 29 per cent, resulting in a labor shortfall both in quantity and expertise.

Recent reports from the ILO also show that Vietnam faces a serious risk of
lacking workers trained in green skills, particularly at small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). “This requires us to urgently invest in retraining and specialized
training according to the needs of green transformation and inclusive employment
policies,” Mr. Long said.

Mr. Pham Vu Quoc Binh, Deputy Director of the Department of Vocational Education
and Continuing Education at the Ministry of Education and Training, said in his
address to the workshop that Vietnam has committed to achieving carbon neutrality
by 2050 and is promoting green economic development. The necessary HR for green
growth, however, remain quite limited compared to actual requirements.

In terms of scale, the workforce in green economic sectors currently accounts
for only 3-5 per cent of the total workforce, and are mainly concentrated in organic
agriculture and renewable energy. In terms of quality, there is a shortage of highly-specialized
staff for designing, operating, and maintaining green technology systems. In terms
of awareness, many workers lack sufficient understanding of the importance of green
growth and are not equipped with the necessary skills to transition to green jobs.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huong, Country People Culture Manager at Manpower Vietnam,
said green growth still faces a host of barriers in terms of HR, particularly in
regard to awareness and understanding. Many workers are not fully cognizant of the
importance and long-term benefits of green growth for themselves, businesses, and
society, and do not clearly see their role in the transition.

She added that a lack of understanding and concern among leaders – those who
should spearhead the green transition – has caused training and skills improvement
programs (reskilling / upskilling) to be all but neglected. In addition, there remain
outdated, incorrect, or limited views on green jobs – such as a belief that they
are only related to the environment, are mostly manual tasks, represent hard and
dangerous work, and pay unattractive salaries. “These stereotypes affect the willingness
to explore and access green job opportunities,” she said.

Effective suggestions

According to Mr. Long, it is necessary to issue a national strategy on HR development
associated with digital transformation and green growth, in which the goals, vision,
and unified orientation from the central to local levels are clearly defined.

It is also necessary to incorporate HR development goals and solutions into
the National Master Plan, Green Growth Strategy, and Employment Policy Plan, and
to clearly identify priority industries to 2030, such as information technology
(IT), AI, renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, low-carbon logistics, smart manufacturing,
and sustainable tourism.

According to Manpower Vietnam, increasing the supply of green staff requires
consensus from the government, schools, and enterprises. At the government and management
levels, it recommends strengthening communications and raising awareness among students
and workers about green jobs and the role of green HR.

It also suggests increasing investment in education and training for green
jobs and green skills; providing financial support for green vocational training
programs, universities, educational institutions, and businesses with initiatives
to train or recruit green HR; and promoting public-private cooperation and creating
the conditions for businesses to participate in the process of building training
programs, offering internships, and recruiting green HR. There should also be policies
to support and encourage the development of green HR.

For schools, it is necessary to update training programs with content related
to sustainable development and social responsibility; and to design new majors or
minors related to “green jobs” in line with labor market trends.

For businesses, the most important thing is to proactively build their internal
green HR. Enterprises need to evaluate job positions that can be converted to “green”,
clearly identify the necessary green skills in the short and long term, implement
internal training programs or cooperate with specialized units, with a clear roadmap,
to improve green capacity for their current teams, and consider linking with businesses
in the same industry or across industries to create a network for sharing experiences,
technology, and resources to develop green HR faster and more effectively.

VET-Linh Ngoc