According to the International Labour Organisation, it is estimated that there will be some 86,000 unemployed labourers in the textile and garment industry due to changes brought by the fourth industrial revolution, especially the replacement of manpower with machines. These trainees are not college students. Most of them are full-time workers who spend their free time taking part in extra vocational courses to improve their working capacity given the frantic pace of work resulting from the fourth industrial revolution. As reported by the International LabourOrganisation, machinery may replace 65% workers in textile and garment industry in Indonesia, 86% in Vietnam and 88% in Cambodia within the next decade. Vietnam is currently home to 55.5 million peopleat working age with a majority beinglabourers, who are most vulnerable to replacementin the fourth industrial revolution. Understanding how changes may affect Vietnamese labourers, many vocational institutions have renovated their curriculums to meet demands for labour quality.

Vietnam has been experiencing a “golden population structure” with a rise of 19 million people in working age from 35 million in 1996 to nearly 54 million in 2016, gaining a competitive edge for the country given developed countries decreasingworking populations. However, with the rise of machinery, Vietnam needs to improve its human resources or it will be abystander of the forth industrial revolution.-VNA