The transition to Industry 4.0, characterized by digitalization and automation, has prompted the need for a new set of skills and competencies in the workforce. Technological speed requires ongoing skill updates and a long-term view of development. Acknowledging these limits is vital for well-informed human resource strategies to address Industry 4.0’s changing demands. The footwear industry in Vietnam is a major contributor to the country’s GDP, but it faces the challenge of digital transformation to keep up with Industry 4.0 (I4.0). This study aims to explore the skills and competencies that production and I.T. engineers need to successfully implement and maintain this transformation. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining a systematic literature review, expert interviews, and a survey. The literature review identifies the general skills and competencies for I4.0 employment, while the interviews provide insights into the specific and local needs of the Vietnamese footwear industry. The thematic coding analysis of the data reveals the key themes and codes for engineers’ skills toward I4.0. The survey asks experts to rate the importance of the skills and competencies derived from the literature and interviews. The results provide the 13 most important competencies of production and I.T. engineers in manufacturing firms toward I4.0. This paper offers new empirical evidence for human resource development strategies in manufacturing for I4.0. Manufacturing could develop human resource development strategies for employee reskilling and appropriate recruitment policies. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.
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