Along with digital transformation, green growth has been identified as a pillar in Vietnam’s move towards sustainable development. With the country’s green growth strategy opening up many new industries, the demand for green staff has also been increasing, from recruitment and skills training to modernizing human resources (HR) management models, which has confirmed there is a shortage of workers trained in green skills.

Key task

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that, by 2030, the global sustainable energy transition could create 25 million jobs, while the Asia-Pacific region alone could generate 14.2 million green jobs if countries invest heavily in environmental issues.

In Vietnam, the National Green Growth Strategy for the 2021-2030 Period with a Vision to 2050 and the National Action Plan on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 Period identify HR development as one of the key tasks. In particular, they emphasize the development of green skills, raising awareness, and enhancing State management capacity over green growth at all levels. The implementation of these measures requires inter-sectoral, inter-level coordination and synchronized investment from the central to local levels.

“Green staff are employees who implement the policies and strategies of the business from the leadership level and truly transform the business,” said Ms. Nguyen Thu Trang, Head of Manpower Brand at Manpower Vietnam. “Green recruitment and development will continue to increase strongly in Vietnam in the time to come. This is not just a global trend, reflecting the increasing demand for green standards in business operations and products, but is also being promoted by policies from the Vietnamese Government.”

At the “Human Resource Development - A Prerequisite for Digital Economy and Green Growth” workshop, held on August 11 in Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Employment at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the world has witnessed many changes and upheavals over the past five years that have had a strong impact on the strategic calculations of businesses and countries, with Vietnam, as an alternative manufacturing center in the ASEAN region, among those affected.

At the same time, global tariff confrontations continue to intensify, not only affecting trade in goods but also redirecting supply chains while setting new barriers in traceability, green workers, and carbon monitoring. “Vietnam needs to adapt quickly to these movements, not only to protect the supply chain but also to take advantage of opportunities from investment shifts, creating stable jobs for the domestic workforce,” Mr. Long told the workshop.

Mr. Tran Hong Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Banking Trade Union, said the banking sector has been pioneering the development of green credit and green banking, with a clear orientation provided by Directive No. 01/CT-NHNN dated January 7, 2020, from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on promoting green credit growth and managing social and environmental risks in credit-granting activities. This requires that workers possess in-depth knowledge about the environment, an understanding of green financial products and services, and awareness about saving energy and effectively managing resources in all activities. “Green skills not only relate to knowledge but also to the practical ability to minimize negative impacts on the environment, optimize resource use, and contribute to the sustainable development goals of businesses and communities towards a circular economy,” he said.

Lack of personnel

According to the National Statistics Office at the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam’s workforce aged 15 and over reached 53 million people in the first half of 2025, of which employed workers totaled 51.9 million. The rate of trained workers with degrees and certificates accounted for 29 per cent, resulting in a labor shortfall both in quantity and expertise.

Recent reports from the ILO also show that Vietnam faces a serious risk of lacking workers trained in green skills, particularly at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “This requires us to urgently invest in retraining and specialized training according to the needs of green transformation and inclusive employment policies,” Mr. Long said.

Mr. Pham Vu Quoc Binh, Deputy Director of the Department of Vocational Education and Continuing Education at the Ministry of Education and Training, said in his address to the workshop that Vietnam has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and is promoting green economic development. The necessary HR for green growth, however, remain quite limited compared to actual requirements.

In terms of scale, the workforce in green economic sectors currently accounts for only 3-5 per cent of the total workforce, and are mainly concentrated in organic agriculture and renewable energy. In terms of quality, there is a shortage of highly-specialized staff for designing, operating, and maintaining green technology systems. In terms of awareness, many workers lack sufficient understanding of the importance of green growth and are not equipped with the necessary skills to transition to green jobs.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huong, Country People & Culture Manager at Manpower Vietnam, said green growth still faces a host of barriers in terms of HR, particularly in regard to awareness and understanding. Many workers are not fully cognizant of the importance and long-term benefits of green growth for themselves, businesses, and society, and do not clearly see their role in the transition.

She added that a lack of understanding and concern among leaders - those who should spearhead the green transition - has caused training and skills improvement programs (reskilling / upskilling) to be all but neglected. In addition, there remain outdated, incorrect, or limited views on green jobs - such as a belief that they are only related to the environment, are mostly manual tasks, represent hard and dangerous work, and pay unattractive salaries. “These stereotypes affect the willingness to explore and access green job opportunities,” she said.

Effective suggestions

According to Mr. Long, it is necessary to issue a national strategy on HR development associated with digital transformation and green growth, in which the goals, vision, and unified orientation from the central to local levels are clearly defined.

It is also necessary to incorporate HR development goals and solutions into the National Master Plan, Green Growth Strategy, and Employment Policy Plan, and to clearly identify priority industries to 2030, such as information technology (IT), AI, renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, low-carbon logistics, smart manufacturing, and sustainable tourism.

According to Manpower Vietnam, increasing the supply of green staff requires consensus from the government, schools, and enterprises. At the government and management levels, it recommends strengthening communications and raising awareness among students and workers about green jobs and the role of green HR.

It also suggests increasing investment in education and training for green jobs and green skills; providing financial support for green vocational training programs, universities, educational institutions, and businesses with initiatives to train or recruit green HR; and promoting public-private cooperation and creating the conditions for businesses to participate in the process of building training programs, offering internships, and recruiting green HR. There should also be policies to support and encourage the development of green HR.

For schools, it is necessary to update training programs with content related to sustainable development and social responsibility; and to design new majors or minors related to “green jobs” in line with labor market trends.

For businesses, the most important thing is to proactively build their internal green HR. Enterprises need to evaluate job positions that can be converted to “green”, clearly identify the necessary green skills in the short and long term, implement internal training programs or cooperate with specialized units, with a clear roadmap, to improve green capacity for their current teams, and consider linking with businesses in the same industry or across industries to create a network for sharing experiences, technology, and resources to develop green HR faster and more effectively.