ĐỒNG NAI – Enterprises located in key economic areas of the south where the industry and supporting services are developing have raised concerns over the lack of soft skills of graduates despite the enhanced co-operation between universities and colleges, and enterprises.

Rose Chu, director of the Human Resources Department of the G&G Fashion Việt Nam Company which is based in the Lộc An - Bình Sơn industrial zone in the southern Đồng Nai province’s Long Thành District, said that most students are now mainly trained in the profession but they still lack important soft skills.

After graduation, many students are still weak in foreign languages, computer skills and communication, she said.

They are shy and do not express their abilities well, she added.

Nguyễn Thành Tài, assistant to the human resources department of the Posco E&C Company in Nhơn Trạch District, said, apart from good academic knowledge, students also need to develop soft skills to meet demand, particularly English, he said.

Because soft skills like communication in English are seen as the key to getting good jobs and promotions at work, he added.

Chief Executive Officer, Nguyễn Hữu Nghĩa, Mirai Human Ltd Co, said for the labour market in Japan in particular and developing countries in general, Việt Nam’s labour force still lacks necessary soft skills.

He said that the first thing that businesses need is foreign language for communication, then discipline in work, time management and teamwork, while these skills are not given much attention in universities and colleges in Việt Nam, he said.

Even though many graduates have good academic knowledge, they are clumsy in work and lack confidence, an official of the personnel department of Pousung Việt Nam Company said.

This has limited the job opportunities of students, he said.

Universities and colleges are in regular contact with businesses to help their students find internships and employment opportunities, Rose Chu said.

However, it is not enough, she said.

The teachers also need to come to businesses for practice because this aims to help teachers get practical knowledge, she said.

They would find what businesses need and more importantly they would learn necessary skills that are needed in the work place to impart to their students, she said.

Lưu Phước Dũng, Headmaster of Sonadezi College based in Biên Hòa II Industrial Zone, said his school is drafting a set of soft skills to apply in the training programme to have high-quality human resources to meet the demand of businesses.

Accordingly, all students are required to pass specialised training courses and soft skills to achieve the certification of the school, he said. - VNS