Workers on the production line at Đại Dũng Metallic Manufacture Construction Trade JSC in An Hạ Industrial Park in HCM City. The city is experiencing high demand for skilled technical and manufacturing personnel. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — High demand for workers in technical fields, production management and project development is creating a skills mismatch in HCM City, despite overall job openings exceeding the number of job seekers.

According to data released by the city Employment Service Center on November 2, the city registered over 19,500 job vacancies in October, surpassing the 17,900 individuals actively seeking employment by 1,500 posts.

However, a closer look at industry trends reveals significant supply-demand imbalances across multiple sectors.

The shortage is most pronounced in high-skilled technical and management roles.

The production management, research and development (R&D), and testing group recorded 1,248 vacancies against just 598 job seekers.

The real estate and project development sector faced a severe deficit, requiring 749 personnel with only 139 applicants available.

Similarly, the marketing, media, and advertising sector saw 559 openings, outstripping supply by 353 candidates.

Technical and manufacturing industries are also experiencing recruitment pressures.

The furniture and wood processing industry sought 1,328 workers against 860 applicants, while mechanical engineering and metal fabrication needed 994 personnel compared to a supply of 780.

Machine operation and technical labor vacancies stood at 1,952, exceeding job seekers by 283.

Conversely, traditional labor-intensive industries registered an oversupply of workers.

The garment, textile, and footwear sector led job applications with 2,473 seekers (accounting for 13.76 per cent of total supply), while businesses only offered 1,306 positions.

Accounting, auditing, and tax had 850 applicants for 752 jobs, and the hospitality and tourism sector reported 826 applicants against 685 available openings.

A mismatch is also evident in educational qualifications.

Nguyễn Văn Hạnh Thục, director of the city Employment Service Center, said demand for college-diploma holders reached nearly 4,000 positions, accounting for 20.33 per cent of total recruitment demand, whereas only 1,642 job seekers met this qualification level.

In contrast, university graduates faced higher competition, with nearly 5,500 applicants competing for roughly 5,000 posts.

Unskilled labor demand stood at 6,880 vacancies against 5,859 applicants.

Looking ahead to the final months of 2026, recruitment demand is expected to remain high in e-commerce, sales, manufacturing, technical machine operations, and logistics, as enterprises accelerate operations to meet year-end targets and prepare goods for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tết).

To address the imbalance, Thục asked businesses to proactively build structured recruitment strategies and focus on employee retention policies.

She also urged job seekers to upskill, track market demands, and actively engage in job matching activities.

Long-term balance will require strengthening vocational training programmes to directly align workforce skills with real enterprise demands, according to experts. — VNS