Vietnam’s FDI Boom Faces a Skills Test: From Job Multipliers to Capability Upgrading
Vietnam’s surging FDI continues to generate strong employment and local spillovers, but the source indicates these gains are concentrated in lower-skill roles and service-sector activity rather than sustained occupational upgrading. Declining education wage premia and signs of graduate mismatch suggest Vietnam’s path to high-income status by 2045 will require policies that deepen domestic capabilities and attract more sophisticated functions within global value chains.