Business
Real estate sector short of skilled personnel
  • | VET | January 16, 2018 01:06 PM
Vietnam’s real estate sector lacks experienced and technically-skilled personnel able to implement major projects, according to the latest report on recruitment demand for senior and mid-level managers in Vietnam from Navigos Search, based on recruitment requests it received from clients in the fourth quarter of 2017.


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The real estate market in the eastern areas of Ho Chi Minh City is heating up, with the launch of a series of projects creating a need for skilled sales consultants at investors and trading floors. The need for sales consultants and for technical personnel is expected to continue throughout 2018.

Developing new products is vital for real estate companies, and they must therefore recruit experienced technical personnel. Vietnam’s human resources market, however, has failed to meet demand, with a lack of senior staff in product development, technical design, and urban planning and development.

According to Navigos Search, Vietnamese professionals in the sector have expertise in projects of a few hectares or even dozens of hectares. But they don’t have experience in planning and developing large projects of more than 1,000 ha, including the construction of residential areas and satellite cities near major hubs. When companies need to recruit senior positions in this field, they are generally forced to recruit expats, primarily from Singapore.

Recruitment demand for middle and senior level positions among Navigos Search’s clients in 2017 increased 28 per cent compared to 2016. In the fourth quarter, demand grew 11 per cent year-on-year. Sectors with the highest recruitment demand in this segment included Manufacturing, Consumer Goods - Retail, Finance - Banking, and ICT.

In Manufacturing, demand for middle and high-level personnel comes mostly from Construction, Electrical - Electronics, and Automotive.

The Consumer Goods - Retail sector followed, with the majority of recruitment requests coming from Food - Beverage and Fashion - Accessories.

In Finance - Banking, most requests came from Banks, Consumer Finance Companies, and Insurance Companies.

The highest recruitment demand in the IT sector was in Information Technology & Software Services.

Mergers and acquisitions continue to be seen in the Retail sector, especially involving large corporations from Japan and Thailand who are investing in Vietnamese businesses that have already created well-known brands.

Such deals open up new opportunities for Vietnamese employees to work in a professional environment under international management and also creates employment opportunities for candidates with experience in business development. Candidates, however, may face certain difficulties in adapting to a new corporate culture and working style.

A highlight of the report was that the fashion industry is seeing a great deal of staff movement with the arrival of foreign brands, who have attracted personnel from domestic fashion companies. Many local fashion companies have begun to follow the operational trend found at foreign labels and added a number positions such as Visual Merchandise Manager, Fashion Design Manager, and Brand Manager.

Navigos Search expects that many new positions will be filled at Fashion companies this year to meet the strong competition in the market.

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