HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The competencies of job candidates in thetextile and garment industry met employers’ requirements in the first half,according to the latest report by recruitment company Navigos Group.

Compared to the last five years, their technology and foreign languages skillshave improved thanks to improvements in training.

In the past 10 years more and more training programmes pertaining to thetextile and garment industry have become available at colleges anduniversities.

Besides, thanks to tie-ups between the industry and universities in designingtechnical programmes, fresh graduates come with 50-60 percent of the skillsthey need, and other skills are taught through internships.

The greatest advantages Vietnamese candidates enjoy are their willingness towork hard, eagerness to learn and skill.

However, despite the improvements of the past five years, Vietnamese candidatesstill have limited foreign language skills especially when compared to theirIndian or the Philippine counterparts.

Textile and garment companies have yet to hire foreign candidates for importantpositions. But these positions require good negotiation skills and other softskills such as leadership and time management, which Vietnamese candidatesstill admittedly lack.

High demand

The textile and garment industry has been witnessing a boom in recruitmentdemand this year as orders poured into the country due to the unstablesituation in some neighbouring countries.

In the past Vietnamese manufacturers only reproduced items designed and alreadymade abroad.

But now, huge investments in the country, by both foreign and Vietnameseenterprises, have led to changes to production chains, facilities,infrastructure, quality of the workforce, and human resources policies.

As a result, global customers have begun to work directly with Vietnamesemanufacturers, who thus have huge demand for personnel, especially in supplyand sourcing and technical jobs such as engineers and production innovators./.