Hiring highly experienced skilful staff from Asian countries has been common in the west for decades the Asian work ethic is well known throughout the world. But the cost of providing immigration services for employees and government policies of many Western nations have made it very difficult for business. Barriers to obtaining working visa’s and complex immigration processes have been a hindrance to employing migrants with the skills that many companies need to be successful and competitive in today’s global economy.
The only answer to this perplexing issue was, of course, is not to look to bring people in but to send the workout (offshore).
So how to identify where the talented workers can be sourced from is the next issue.
Firstly we need to look at the skills required and the areas where that skill set is plentiful. Cost is also an issue so let’s look at where highly skilled workers are plentiful and combine that with low labour costs. A shining example is Vietnam. Vietnam is an emerging market in South East Asia and is fast becoming the new preferred place to do business. Many multinationals have invested in Vietnam recently and for good reason. Offering many advantages Vietnam is a strong candidate for big and small business when recruiting talent
Vietnamese workers constantly impress foreign employers as being highly skilled, hardworking and intelligent. They rarely take a leave because they are determined to stay and work and complete the tasks they are set. They don’t only want to do well just for themselves but take on much more responsibility for their family and extended families welfare. The family comes first in Vietnamese society. Being successful at work and being able to provide for your family is a source of great pride in Vietnam. Vietnamese don’t take many holidays but when they do it is usually to visit their hometown and family. The most popular pastime is drinking coffee with friends and colleagues.
The Vietnamese, ‘can-do’ attitude is endemic to its society. Schooling is very traditional in Vietnam and teachers are revered and respected. The old school rote system is common and strict and some would say harsh discipline is common. This strict discipline and family encouragement to be successful and prosper could be the rationale behind the eagerness to learn and constantly better oneself. Being a poor country which is now growing and prosperous certainly sharpens the appetite for success. Vietnam is one of the education's biggest outliers, reports Business Insider magazine, “ It's basically the only low-income country that performs at the same level as rich countries on international academic tests. There’s a clear positive relationship between a country's economic strength and how well its students perform on certain tests. But Vietnam, with a GDP per capita that is a fraction of the US', actually performs significantly better than you'd expect for a country at its level of income, and no one really knows why. Researchers have studied two internationally comparable tests in an attempt to understand the "Vietnam effect." One is the TIMSS test, a modified version of which shows that* the Vietnamese vastly outperform people in other countries of similar GDP per capita.”*
Despite having a lower standard of living than a lot of their neighbours such as Singapore and Malaysia the Vietnamese are generally optimistic people with a lot of faith in the continued growth of the nation economically and socially and rightfully can now take its place as the new Asian tiger.
Source: Sing (2016) & World Bank (Reported in Business Insider Magazine Jul. 14, 2016
