As Vietnam continues to draw record levels of foreign direct investment and its economy grows in stature across Southeast Asia, a pressing challenge is emerging beneath the surface: the country’s talent pool is struggling to keep pace with the digital transformation reshaping its key industries.

According to the Vietnam Employer Hiring Study 2026, released by Reeracoen Vietnam in May 2026, 73 per cent of employers identified digital and AI-related skills as the most critical upskilling priority for Vietnam’s workforce. That figure significantly outpaced the next-highest priorities: leadership development, cited by 51 per cent of respondents, and English communication, at 37 per cent.

The message from the business community is that technical fluency is no longer a niche requirement confined to the tech sector. It is fast becoming a baseline expectation across manufacturing, logistics, commercial operations, and beyond.

The study, which surveyed 51 employers representing Japanese-affiliated companies, Western foreign-invested firms, and local Vietnamese businesses, paints a picture of a market defined by ambition and constraint. Hiring activity is on the rise — 69 per cent of employers expect to increase their headcount in 2026 — yet the search for candidates who can operate effectively in an increasingly automated and data-driven environment is proving more difficult than anticipated.

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A shifting benchmark

For years, Vietnam’s talent pipeline has been celebrated for producing a steady stream of graduates, a young, ambitious and growing workforce that has helped fuel the country’s manufacturing and services boom. But the Reeracoen study suggests that benchmark is shifting.

As AI tools become embedded in daily operations across industries, employers are demanding capabilities that go beyond academic credentials or entry-level competency.

The implication is significant: Vietnam talents who cannot demonstrate foundational digital skills risk falling behind in a hiring market that is already competitive and showing signs of structural strain. Reeracoen’s research indicates this is not a distant concern but a present reality, with businesses reporting that the current talent pool cannot consistently deliver the digital fluency their operations now require.

This dynamic is particularly acute given the broader pressures employers are navigating simultaneously. Salary expectations are rising sharply — 86 per cent of respondents cited wage inflation as their top hiring challenge — while only 43 per cent plan to increase their recruitment budgets. In such an environment, candidates with demonstrable digital skills carry a clear advantage, both in securing roles and in commanding stronger compensation.

What distinguishes the digital skills challenge from previous workforce gaps is its breadth. Unlike shortages in specific technical disciplines, the demand for digital and AI competency is cutting across every sector represented in the study, from factory floors to sales teams.

Reeracoen’s findings suggest that employers are no longer treating digital fluency as a specialist add-on but as a core attribute they screen for across all levels and functions.

This shift carries implications for educational institutions, training providers and policymakers, as well as for individual job seekers. The study points to a 12-to-24-month horizon in which digital literacy will move from being a differentiating asset to a non-negotiable hiring criterion.

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Reeracoen Vietnam describes the current moment as one of transition, a period in which the expectations placed on Vietnam talents are evolving faster than the systems designed to develop them. Companies that invest proactively in upskilling their existing workforce will be better positioned to weather the gap. Those that do not may find themselves competing for an increasingly scarce pool of digitally capable candidates, in a market where the cost of that competition is already rising.

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