Wage increases help workers cope with inflation.

Many businesses in Vietnam have increased salaries and added benefits for employees to cope with rising prices, viewing this as a solution to human resource management challenges caused by inflation.

This is the main information from the 2011 salary survey results recently published by Mercer (USA) - one of the world's leading companies specializing in human resource consulting services and represented in Vietnam by TalentNet Corporation.

According to Ms. Hoa Nguyen, Senior Manager of Mercer's Salary Survey at Talentnet, a salary survey conducted at 329 domestic and foreign companies in Vietnam showed an average salary increase of 13.3% in multinational corporations and companies with 100% foreign capital.

In previous years, foreign companies, due to competition and the desire to attract talent, always increased salaries in line with inflation. However, this year the average salary increase was only 0.8% compared to 2010, which is 6.7% lower than the projected inflation rate.

This is because businesses are bearing the direct impact of the Vietnamese economy and the unstable global economy, especially foreign businesses, leading to wage increases that lag behind the inflation rate.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese companies have significantly higher salary increases than foreign-owned companies, averaging 19%. This suggests that because salaries in Vietnamese companies are not yet competitive, they prioritize high salary increases to narrow the gap with foreign-owned companies, as well as to encourage and retain employees. Additionally, due to high inflation, Vietnamese companies are also proposing higher salary increases to partially support their employees' living expenses.

According to the survey, inflation affects the salary policies of 75% of participating companies. More than 33% of the companies surveyed have positive responses to cope with inflation. In addition to annual salary increases, companies provide additional allowances, adjust salary increase rates, or add a percentage bonus to salary increases.

Specifically, the current average lunch allowance is around 500,000 VND per month. Travel allowances or fuel voucher subsidies are also being considered by businesses. In addition, some companies offer one-time subsidies ranging from 1.5 million to 2 million VND per year to all employees. Position allowances, parking allowances, and uniform allowances are also options chosen by many businesses.

The survey results also indicate that this year, pharmaceuticals had the highest salary increase rate, reaching 14.1%. Average salary increases in other sectors such as banking, oil and gas, and high technology ranged from 12.5% ​​to nearly 14%. The unskilled labor group had the highest average salary increase rate at 14.1%. This is understandable, as this workforce is most heavily and significantly affected by inflation.

According to Vietnam+