Tech startups driving change in Vietnam's recruitment industry

Viec Lam Tot is a job posting platform operated by Cho Tot that connects thousands of blue-collar workers to employers in Vietnam. The platform offers a simple, easy-to-use interface for employers to share job openings across 24 occupations including sales, shipping, security guard, kitchen assistant, and driver. Blue-collar workers can apply for positions by calling recruiters directly, messaging them, or filling out a brief application in just five steps.

For employers,Viec Lam Totoffers an unlimited labour pool to hire blue-collar workers, taking out all the hassle from short-term recruitment. Meanwhile, blue-collar workers can apply to millions of jobs with a single touch, taking less than a minute.

Nguyen Trong Tan, CEO of Cho Tot– the online classified site of Carousell startup in Vietnam – said the company has recorded a growth rate of more than 40 per cent on-year for its Jobs section on Cho Tot. In 2021, the Jobs section has reached the milestone of providing 12 million jobs. Thus, Cho Tot has officially launched Viec Lam Totin November as a standalone job posting platform to target the potential of blue-collar labour recruitment.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, it is estimated that blue-collar workers will account for 80 per cent of Vietnam's labour structure by 2025, reaching 43 million people. This reflects the huge demand for recruitment in the blue-collar segment in Vietnam.

In addition, Vietnam has experienced increasing labour shortages and unemployment due to the impact of the latest outbreak. After social distancing measures are restricted in October, there have been a surge in job searching and recruiting as companies are returning to work.

Another Vietnam-based job recruitment startup JobHopin combines AI and machine learning to link job seekers with small and large businesses that are hiring in Vietnam. Bunny, the company's matching platform, standardises resume language, job descriptions, and candidate preferences to provide analytics, which are then utilised to build connections at scale.

Likewise, Recruitery is a local online platform that offers companies access to a network of top recruiters in Southeast Asia. Companies need only name a reward for filling a position and recruiters on the platform will connect them with the best candidate. The startup set the goal to become the leading mid and senior recruitment platform in Vietnam as well as the region.

In fact, the growth of recruitment tech startups follows the major changes in Vietnam's labour market post-COVID-19. Andree Mangels, general director at Adecco Vietnam, pointed out that the COVID-19 has significantly accelerated the pace of digital transformation. A major challenge in recruitment now is to switch from traditional to virtual practices. Virtual interviews may not be enough for candidates to evaluate the work culture and future career path.

He added that it is also more challenging for employers to observe the body language and how candidates react to the working environment and culture. That is why more employers are now benefiting from online skills assessments. Psychological assessments are becoming more popular to gauge candidates’ qualifications and resilience. The online corporate assessment services market is expected to grow at a high rate in the Asia-Pacific region over the next few years.

The recruitment sites applying modern technology that will help businesses address challenges in the new context. Tran Minh Ngoc, director of Viec Lam Tot said, “In order to become an efficient and reliable job posting platform for enterprises and blue-collar workers, we plan to invest in technology and digital data to bring a smart digitised solution to reduce time and resources during the recruitment cycle and ensure a plentiful source of market-leading candidates for enterprises."

"At the same time, we also invest in strengthening partnership with relevant agencies, departments, and professional training organisations to improve professional skills for blue-collar workers,” she added.

On the same note, Kevin Tung Nguyen, CEO of JobHopin said that, "Reputable online recruitment sites boast a huge database of Vietnam's labour market. However, they have yet to effectively exploit the data. Therefore, JobHopin has proposed the partners to share the raw data they have. We will use AI and machine learning to analyse huge data pools of candidates and job profiles to deliver real-time insights for recruiters and job seekers."