Vietnam warned about lack of workers in AI

Tien Phong quoted Ngo Thi Ngoc Lan from Navigos Search North as saying that demand for AI workers is on the rise but the supply is short. Many technology firms visit schools directly to look for workers or cooperate with schools to prepare human resources. Lan said because of the short supply, workers in the sector tend to change jobs regularly. A survey conducted by Navigos found that 70-80 percent of IT workers want to change jobs, while 50 percent said they would go abroad if they receive invitations from foreign companies.

Sixty percent of firms in this field said the lack of qualified workers is their biggest problem, while data and fundraising are the second and third. Vietnamese firms complain that they have to compete with foreign firms which come to Vietnam to seek workers and pay very high wages.

A representative of Viettel said the group has many problems that need to be solved with AI technology.

As the labor force is thin, it has to visit technology schools to find excellent students, but the number of these students is ' modest. Some students are excellent, but their knowledge about Viettel and VIettel’s problems is still limited. The company pays a great deal of attention to internal training.

Tran Hong Thang from VietinBank complained that the bank found workers for three positions within four years. The problem is that those who are good at AI many not be good at banking operations. Good analysis models are created, but they are too difficult to understand.

Ho Tu Bao from John von Neumann Institute under the HCMC National University suggested that besides domestic training, Vietnam should attract Vietnamese AI talents who are working for the world’s leading groups such as Google and Microsoft. It is necessary to build a network of Vietnamese AI specialists all over the globe to mobilize resources for the development of AI.

Vietnam has begun paying more attention to training AI workers. The Hanoi University of Science and Technology has enrolled students for the first time this academic year. Students must be excellent with at least 27/30 scores for three exam subjects to be enrolled.

According to Ta Hai Tung, head of the IT Institute of the university, with 27 exam scores, the students are among the top 0.5 percent of A-group examinees in the country (A-group examinees are those who register to attend mathematics, physics and chemistry exams).