| Abstract | Located in the South of Vietnam, in an advantageous position, both geographically and economically, Vung Tau city (the chief town of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province) has always been in needs of high-skilled labour. The city with some 40 oil and gas companies and hundreds of other companies operating in the field of logistics, supporting industries, construction, tourism and catering services has given chances for thousands and thousands of people, both local and immigrants, to start up a new life in an area once just a fishing town. Since the time the first flow of oil was extracted from the seabed, Vung Tau has been rapidly growing, and become the focal point of Vietnam South Key Economic Zone.
The provision of labour for the city is one of the priorities set by the city authority. Together with general education schools, many vocational, technical colleges and centres were established to meet the demands. The workforce provided for businesses can be considered as sufficient in terms of general and professional knowledge, but when it comes to other additional skills such as English proficiency, the gap between the demands and the needs appears. The businesses are seeking human resources elsewhere, while the potentials nearby have not been adequately motivated and mobilized.
The author of this research has been in the field of vocational English training for some time and, with an indefinite enthusiasm for and devotion to the career, tries to analyze the situation, to identify major areas in which compensation can be made for the gap and to suggest a model for making up what has been missing in the process of preparing English-competent human resources for all needs.
This research has used a well-known business analysis, SWOT, and problem-solving technique ‘5 Whys’ to analyze the business environment and help develop a model that supplements the existing ones to get the best from the current market.
The author has conducted various surveys with authority officials, centre executives and teachers (both local and foreigner), learners and their parents, employees and their employers in an attempt to approach the issues herein from different angles so as to better support the concerned arguments |