Vietnamese recruitment landscape should expect stable salaries and regular increments

The Vietnamese recruitment market is gearing up for a promising 2024, even in the aftermath of the economic challenges experienced in the previous year.

59 per cent of surveyed employees across all functions expressed a keen interest in exploring new career opportunities over the next 12 months. This inclination is fuelled by a focused emphasis on sought-after benefits. Professionals strategically prioritise factors such as competitive compensation, enhanced wellbeing strategies, and the option for remote or flexible work arrangements.

A substantial 67 per cent of the surveyed Vietnamese professionals anticipate a pay raise in their future roles, reflecting a notable confidence in the country's job market. Furthermore, 62 per cent of respondents expressed optimism regarding the availability of new and promising job opportunities.

As professionals navigate the evolving employment landscape, this pursuit of enhanced benefits and the strong anticipation of positive career developments will remain pivotal in shaping their career decisions in the coming year.

In line with this positive outlook, 62 per cent of businesses in Vietnam are planning to implement pay raises, with expected increments ranging between 15 and 25 per cent for job movers. The recruitment focus has shifted towards candidates with strong business partnering skills, placing high value on the ability to seamlessly integrate technical expertise with strategic insights.

In fact, business partnering skills will feature as a key requirement in many roles in 2024. This demand is most prominent in the legal and finance sectors, as well as human resources.

Moreover, companies are putting a greater spotlight on their values and commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) during their employer branding and hiring processes.

According to Pham Tuan Phuc, country manager of Robert Walters Vietnam, this focus enhances corporate reputation, fosters a positive working culture, engages employees, and attracts talent.

The anticipated trends for the coming year include a heightened emphasis on measuring and reporting CSR initiatives, as well as digital channels for promoting such schemes that showcase clear statistical evidence of a company's commitment to having a societal impact.

The survey's key findings also show that companies exhibiting decisiveness and agility stand the best chance of attracting top talent in 2024. Therefore, Phuc advises companies to streamline their recruitment processes and clarify their hiring criteria to expedite decision-making.

Beyond speed, companies should prioritise creating a positive candidate experience, as it significantly influences the company’s reputation and employer branding over the long term.

Phuc further suggests that companies should hire based on the potential to tap into a broader candidate pool. "Once this talent is on board, employers can retain it by fostering a great company culture and environment that keeps employees engaged and happy. To address competency gaps, it is vital to invest in training and development. It is important to nurture and promptly reward staff for their contributions through promotions or staying abreast of compensation and benefit benchmarks in the market."

In the coming year, several areas stand out as high-demand sectors in Vietnam, namely accounting and finance, engineering and manufacturing, sales and marketing (with an emphasis on healthcare and the consumer sector) and human resources.

With accounting and finance, the growing trend of Vietnam as a regional hub increases demand for candidates with local experience, emphasising communication and stakeholder management skills. In 2024, salaries are expected to remain stable, although some companies will opt for rises to win over top talent.

For engineering and manufacturing, hiring activities will gradually increase in the first half of 2024, driven by ongoing expansions and increased mergers and acquisitions, with emphasis on professionals with technical expertise, a people-centric approach, and a focus on continuous improvement.

While salary increments are expected, market rates are predicted to see only slight increases from 2023.

In terms of sales and marketing, the commercial sector is experiencing a transformation beyond routine replacements. New positions are emerging, especially in the consumer healthcare business, with candidates often transitioning from backgrounds in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Standard salaries are expected to increase at the usual rate in the FMCG sector in 2024.

Finally, the human resource sector is witnessing increased demand propelled by business partnering, transformation initiatives, and talent management needs. Companies seek professionals for strategic support in decision-making, business orientation, workflow refinement, and talent management.

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