By Dinh Nghia - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – IT experts, speaking at a seminar on the software industry organized in HCMC on Monday, said even though demand for information technology workers remains high, the supply is limited.
LogiGear Vietnam Co., which specializes in software testing, expects to recruit 200 IT engineers this year and 250 by next year but there is a limited pool of qualified candidates, said Vuong Bao Long, HR manager of the firm.
A shortage of IT labor creates a bottleneck in the development of enterprises since most firms in various sectors such as finance, banking and retail business are in desperate need of IT workers, said Ngo Van Toan, vice director of Global CyberSoft Co (GCS), a software firm.
The imbalance between demand and supply of IT specialists is challenging enterprises since they face the usual job-hopping and the salary level of IT employees is pushing up beyond their means.
One feasible solution is that IT firms must cooperate with universities and training centers in developing human resources. “GCS is willing to collaborate with universities to train IT students by offering them virtual tours to the firm or internship courses from four to six months and sending experts to teach them,” Toan said.
LogiGear Co will conduct seminars featuring new technology in coordination with universities. The company also allows IT students to be involved in its projects and gives allowances for the interns working there, said Long of LogiGear Vietnam.
IT firms will need a supply of labor in coming years in areas like game programming, system analysis and design, software testing, enterprise resource planning, network administration and computer science, Toan added.
Dr. Le Hoai Bac, deputy dean of the IT department at HCMC Science University, proposed IT firms allow IT lecturers to gain more experience by working in the industry and then they can pass on the gleaned information to their students. The proposal received a chorus of approval from participating enterprises.
The city now has 6,000 IT firms, which employ 25,000 engineers. The figure will rise to 10,000 enterprises by 2015 and the number of IT engineers will increase four-fold, according to the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment.