According to online headhunter VietnamWorks, from now to 2020, information technology sector in Vietnam is short of around half a million hands, accounting for more than 78 percent of total required IT human resources.

The IT sector has never faced such severe shortage of human resources which has become a big challenge to IT and software industry.

The number of software companies has risen by 124 percent within the past four years. Meanwhile, the number of jobs in IT and software sector has averagely increased by 47 percent in the last three years. However, human resources for this sector merely posted an average growth of 8 percent.

Businesses in IT sector are mainly seeking for candidates with .NET, C/C++, Java, PHP and Web skills. Of which, candidates with Web and Java skills are most desired.

In order to qualify employers’ requirement amid economic integration, Mr. Paul Espinas, marketing director of VietnamWorks, said that IT human resources should improve their foreign language skill and other soft skills, such as: communication, presentation, time and progress management, and convincing. Especially, they should update knowledge about technology; for instance, big data, mobile programming, breakthrough technology startups and open source code which has been popularized in the world but rarely mentioned in textbooks of IT schools in Vietnam.