High demand for technical workers, production managers and project development staff has created a mismatch between labor supply and demand in Ho Chi Minh City, even though the city had more job openings than job seekers overall.
Data from the city's Employment Service Center showed more than 19,500 vacancies in October. About 17,900 people were actively seeking work, leaving around 1,500 more openings than job seekers.
The figures differed sharply by sector. The most pronounced shortage involved highly skilled technical and management workers.
Production management, research and development, and testing recorded 1,248 vacancies and only 598 job seekers. Real estate and project development needed 749 workers, while only 139 candidates were available.
Marketing, media and advertising had 559 openings, with supply falling short by 353 candidates.
Manufacturing sectors also faced recruitment pressure. Furniture and wood-processing businesses sought 1,328 workers against 860 applicants. Mechanical engineering and metal fabrication had 994 vacancies and 780 candidates. Machine operation and technical labor offered 1,952 positions, 283 more than the number of job seekers.
Traditional labor-intensive sectors, by contrast, had an oversupply of workers. The garment, textile and footwear sector had 2,473 job seekers, or 13.76 per cent of total supply, while businesses offered 1,306 positions.
Accounting, auditing and tax services had 850 applicants for 752 jobs. Hospitality and tourism recorded 826 applicants for 685 available positions.
The mismatch was also visible in educational qualifications. Nguyễn Văn Hạnh Thục, director of the city Employment Service Center, said demand for college-diploma holders reached nearly 4,000 positions, or 20.33 per cent of total recruitment demand. Only 1,642 job seekers met that qualification level.
University graduates faced stronger competition, with nearly 5,500 applicants competing for about 5,000 positions. Unskilled labor demand stood at 6,880 vacancies against 5,859 applicants.
Recruitment demand is expected to remain high in the final months of 2026 in e-commerce, sales, manufacturing, technical machine operations and logistics. Businesses are increasing operations to meet year-end targets and prepare goods for the coming Lunar New Year, or Tết.
To reduce the imbalance, Thục urged businesses to build structured recruitment plans in advance and focus on retaining employees. She encouraged job seekers to improve their skills, follow market demand and take part more actively in job-matching activities.
In the longer term, experts said the labor market will need stronger vocational training that is directly connected to companies' actual workforce needs.
Sources: Viet Nam News
