Which industry has the highest salary in Vietnam?

"2019 Vietnam Job Seeker Salary Survey" is an annual report that reflects the importance of salary and the common salary level in the current Vietnamese labor market based on the opinions of nearly 5,500 job seekers in January 2019, in the VietnamWorks database, job seekers of all industries and levels.

The survey was conducted with the aim of helping employers answer the question: "When there is a need to recruit a position, where is the proposed salary for that position currently on the general salary scale of the market?".

5 highest paying industries

According to statistics, the top 5 occupations with the highest common salaries are: finance/investment; banking; information technology; marketing; construction. In the finance/investment sector alone, 25% of people in management/department heads positions are receiving salaries from 70,000,000 VND or more.

The most common minimum salaries in this industry for the following positions are: fresh graduates: VND 5,000,000; experienced: VND 7,175,000; team leader/supervisor: VND 12,500,000; manager/department head: VND 25,000,000. The median salaries that this group receives for the following positions are: fresh graduates: VND 6,000,000; experienced employees: VND 11,250,000; team leader/supervisor: VND 16,000,000; manager/department head: VND 35,000,000.

Compared to other industries, the construction industry has higher salaries for new graduates. The average salary that new graduates in the construction industry are receiving is about 7,500,000 VND. Up to 1/4 of the candidate group said they are being paid from 10,000,000 VND. The information technology industry pays the highest salaries for experienced candidates.

Accordingly, the average salary for experienced candidates is around 15,600,000 VND, with 25% of candidates at this level receiving 20,000,000 VND, which is the common maximum salary.

According to statistics, the top 5 occupational groups with the lowest maximum salaries are: administration/secretary; mechanics; customer service; accounting; sales. In the administration/secretary industry alone, the median salary for experienced positions is 8,000,000 VND, and for management/supervisory positions, the salary is around 15,000,000 VND. The most common maximum salary recorded in this industry is only around 20,000,000 VND.

Ho Chi Minh City tops the list of high salaries

Candidates in Ho Chi Minh City are holding higher salaries than other cities in most positions. Accordingly, the median salary for experienced positions is 10,000,000 VND, the management/department head position holds the median salary of 25,000,000 VND. The most common maximum salary recorded is 36,500,000 VND.

Hanoi holds the second highest salary with the median salary for experienced positions being 10,000,000 VND, the median salary for managers/department heads is around 22,000,000 VND. The common maximum salary recorded in Hanoi is 30,000,000 VND. Most candidates at any job level want to know about salary information.

The survey shows that if the salary does not meet the expectations of employees, nearly 80% of employees will have some kind of reaction, of which 46% will decide to ask their superiors for a salary increase, nearly 26% will decide to change jobs. However, when asked about the most recent salary increase, nearly 50% of employees have not received a salary increase in the past 6 months.

Mr. Gaku Echizenya, General Director of Navigos Group, commented: "Salary plays a very important role in attracting and retaining talent, especially in the context of the recruitment market in Vietnam becoming more and more vibrant and competitive due to the investment of FDI enterprises. The 2019 salary survey of job seekers helps businesses understand the importance of salary in affecting the application behavior of job seekers, and is also a relative measure for businesses to be able to apply the most common and reasonable salary level according to the wishes of job seekers."