High-paying jobs in the COVID-19 era

Vietnamese employees can still secure high-paying jobs due to the successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 was a challenging year for the Vietnamese economy. The COVID-19 outbreak interrupted trade and manufacturing activities, with the tourism and aviation industries among the hardest hit. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Vietnam last year fell 25 per cent. Business closings and mass layoffs caused the unemployment rate in urban areas to reach a 10-year high in the second quarter of 2020. Consequently, Vietnam's 2020 GDP growth was the lowest in the decade (2011-2020) with 2.91 per cent.

However, thanks to the successful virus containment, Vietnam is considered a bright spot on the global economic map.

It continued to achieve among the highest positive growth rates in the world. Production and exports are strongly recovering from the initial impacts. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the UK-Vietnam FTA (UKVFTA), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have all allowed Vietnam to diversify its export markets and trade partners. More and more companies are reallocating production chains to Vietnam while closing factories in other countries and the US-China trade war is grinding on.

Besides, Vietnam is an attractive destination for foreign investors, including the US, Singapore, South Korea, China, and Japan, among others. The country's national brand ranked 33rd in the latest list of the world's 100 most valuable nation brands by Brand Directory, moving up nine places from 2019.

The workforce landscape has undergone sharp fluctuations in 2020. Whether the market will bounce back in 2021 depends crucially on the COVID-19 situation.

However, as firms are accelerating the digital transformation process, the need for IT-related roles such as data engineer, infrastructure engineer, or CTO is significantly increasing. Software engineers and software architects with rich experience can earn a salary of over VND100 million ($4,357) per month, according to the Adecco Vietnam Salary Guide 2021.

Experts in Transformation and Innovation will also find more opportunities to advance their careers. Additionally, the coronavirus has spurred the digital economy, followed by the rising demand for e-commerce, sales, and digital marketing professionals.

In the healthcare sector, businesses have been focusing on strengthening their existing workforce. Internal training, re-evaluation, and re-assignment are the most common practices that were adopted to improve employee efficiency. As a result, sales force effectiveness and talent development professionals are highly sought after, with a salary up to VND80 million ($3,483), says the report.

In the finance industry, the top emerging positions are investment director for private equities; listed equities investment director, director of investment banking, and head of equity research for FDI securities firms; M&A director, group CEO, and group CFO for companies funded by asset managers from Japan, South Korea, the US, Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The demand for those vacancies can be considered a significant labour movement in the financial market in the fiscal year of 2020 and 2021.

Other sectors that will seek more talents are manufacturing, fintech, healthcare, logistics, agriculture, and retail.