Hiring Vietnamese Staff: Recruitment, Salaries, Contracts

Hiring in Vietnam is straightforward by Asian standards. Labour is plentiful, paperwork is moderate, and the social-insurance system is clear. What trips up foreign founders is salary expectations and contract structure.

Where to find people

Channel	Best for	Cost
TopCV.vn	Junior/mid local roles	Free–$200 per post
VietnamWorks	Mid/senior professional	$200–500 per post
LinkedIn	English-speaking professionals, leadership	Subscription
Glints	Tech, marketing, creative	Mid-tier
Facebook groups	Junior roles, creative, hospitality	Free
Recruitment agencies	Senior, niche	1.5–3 months salary
Word of mouth	Anything	Free, often best signal

For senior bilingual roles, Robert Walters, Navigos and Manpower dominate.

Typical monthly salaries (gross VND, USD equivalent)

Role	Junior	Mid	Senior
Admin / receptionist	8–12m ($320–480)	12–18m	18–25m
Accountant	10–15m	18–25m	30–50m
Marketing executive	10–15m	18–30m	35–60m
Software engineer	15–25m	30–55m	60–120m
Sales (base)	8–15m + commission	15–25m + comm	25–50m + comm
F&B server	5–8m + tips	8–12m	12–18m
Kitchen line cook	7–12m	12–20m	25–40m
Driver	7–10m	10–14m	—

Bilingual (English-fluent) staff command roughly 30–50% premium over Vietnamese-only counterparts at the same level.

Contracts

Three contract types under the 2019 Labour Code:

1. Indefinite-term — open-ended; default after two consecutive fixed-term contracts.
2. Fixed-term — up to 36 months; renewable once before becoming indefinite.
3. Seasonal / project — under 12 months, narrow use.

Probation (thử việc) is separate, up to 60 days for skilled roles, 30 for unskilled, 6 for executives. Salary during probation must be at least 85% of agreed wage.

Contracts must be in Vietnamese (English bilingual is fine). Use a template from a local lawyer, not a Google one.

Social insurance, health insurance, unemployment

Mandatory contributions on the declared gross salary:

Contribution	Employer	Employee	Total
Social insurance	17.5%	8%	25.5%
Health insurance	3%	1.5%	4.5%
Unemployment	1%	1%	2%
Total	21.5%	10.5%	32%

Capped at 20× minimum wage (~96m VND/mo cap in HCMC region 1). Above that cap, contributions stop; salary above the cap is just PIT.

The 13th month

Not legally required, but expected. Paid at Tết (lunar new year, late Jan / early Feb). Skipping it without an extraordinary reason will gut your retention. Standard is 1 month's salary; high-performing companies pay 1.5–2 months.

Termination

• Probation: either side can terminate without reason
• During contract: 30–45 days written notice depending on contract type
• Severance: 0.5 month per year of service for pre-2009 service; post-2009 service is covered by unemployment insurance contributions
• Cannot dismiss for performance without documented warnings

Wrongful-dismissal claims do happen and labour courts tend to side with the employee.

Honest take

Vietnamese staff are loyal when treated well, and the cost-to-quality ratio is among the best in the region. Where foreign owners get burned is in under-investing in middle management — you cannot run a 20-person operation from your own laptop. Promote and train a Vietnamese ops manager early.

Related

• Starting a company in Vietnam
• Payroll and social insurance
• Work permit deep dive
• Domestic help, cleaners and nannies