Vietnam enters 2026 with some of the strongest growth signals in the six ASEAN markets surveyed. But even in a more optimistic market, growth is not translating into unrestricted hiring.To understand how businesses and consumers across Southeast Asia are responding to changing economic and workforce conditions, Reeracoen Group partnered with Rakuten Insight to conduct  The Great Restructuring: ASEAN Consumer & Business Pulse Survey 2026 across 3,630 consumers and business leaders in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Vietnam stands out in the findings. Consumer optimism is the highest among the six markets at 48%, while active hiring expansion is also the regional high at 16%. The report identifies Vietnam, alongside Indonesia, among ASEAN's growth poles.

Yet the bigger regional pattern remains disciplined. Selective hiring is the dominant workforce posture across all six markets, operational efficiency is the leading growth opportunity everywhere, and technology remains a major business priority.

For employers in Vietnam, the question is therefore not simply how many people to hire. It is how to convert stronger growth conditions into the right capabilities while keeping workforce decisions precise.

2026 ASEAN Snapshot

Indicator	Survey finding	Why it matters
Consumer optimism	Vietnam: 48%	Highest among the six surveyed markets.
Active hiring expansion	Vietnam: 16%	Highest of the six, but still below selective hiring.
Selective hiring	32%–47% regionally	Discipline remains the dominant workforce posture.
Operational efficiency	35%–43%	Shared growth priority across ASEAN.
AI/technology	24%–33%	Top-three growth opportunity in every market.

Vietnam Is a Growth Market — But Growth Does Not Mean Open-Ended Hiring

The report positions Vietnam and Indonesia among ASEAN's growth poles. Vietnam's 48% consumer optimism is the highest of the six markets surveyed, and its 16% active hiring-expansion rate is also the regional high.

Those figures should not be read as evidence of indiscriminate recruitment. Across ASEAN, selective hiring remains the dominant business posture, cited by 32% to 47% of businesses. Vietnam participates in that broader pattern even while its expansion figure is comparatively strong.

For employers, the useful distinction is between a market with stronger growth signals and a market where every headcount request will be approved. The survey supports the former, not the latter.

Efficiency and Technology Still Shape the Growth Model

Operational efficiency is the top-cited growth opportunity in every market surveyed, at 35% to 43%, while technology and AI appear among the top three growth opportunities everywhere, at 24% to 33%.

The survey measures priorities, not the precise allocation of investment spending. It is therefore more accurate to say that efficiency and technology are prominent growth levers than to claim that companies are directing a specific share of capital toward them.

For Vietnam employers, this suggests workforce planning should sit alongside process and technology planning. A new hire should ideally add a capability that cannot be achieved through role redesign, internal development or better tools alone.

A Stronger Market Can Still Produce a Tight Talent Problem

Vietnam's comparatively positive sentiment creates an important workforce question: if more employers pursue growth while remaining selective, which profiles become harder to secure?

The survey itself does not measure candidate shortages. Reeracoen's interpretation is that competition may concentrate around experienced employees who can contribute quickly, particularly where businesses need technology, operational or cross-functional capability.

This is why pipeline building matters even before a requisition is urgent. A selective market can still be highly competitive for the people everyone wants.

What Vietnam Employers Can Do Now

1. Tie expansion roles to measurable growth triggers

Use confirmed demand, capability gaps or operational constraints to determine when a new role is justified.

2. Build talent pipelines before growth converts into vacancies

A stronger-growth market can make reactive recruitment more difficult for specialist roles.

3. Connect hiring with efficiency and technology plans

Decide which capabilities should be hired, which should be developed internally and which can be supported by process or technology.

4. Protect the candidate experience

Selective hiring should not mean unnecessarily slow hiring. Clear decision rights and realistic timelines matter when strong candidates have options.

5. Benchmark Vietnam against ASEAN without copying ASEAN

Regional data is useful context, but Vietnam's stronger sentiment and hiring-expansion figures justify market-specific workforce assumptions.

Yes. The report identifies Vietnam alongside Indonesia among the markets combining above-average consumer optimism and business confidence relative to the other surveyed markets. Vietnam also records the highest consumer optimism at 48%.

No. Sixteen percent is the highest active expansion figure among the six markets, but it is still a minority. Selective hiring remains the dominant posture across ASEAN, so the data points to stronger relative expansion rather than broad-based hiring.

Operational efficiency is the top-cited growth opportunity in all six markets, at 35% to 43%, while technology and AI rank among the top three everywhere, at 24% to 33%. These are stated priorities; the survey does not measure exact capital allocation.

The survey does not directly measure talent shortages. Reeracoen's interpretation is that stronger growth combined with selective hiring may concentrate competition around experienced, high-impact candidates rather than create uniform pressure across every role.

Use it as a benchmark, not a substitute for Vietnam-specific planning. The regional findings show common themes such as selective hiring and efficiency, while Vietnam's stronger sentiment and expansion figures justify local workforce assumptions.

• H2 2026 Hiring Outlook for Vietnam: What the Mid-Year Data Tells Employers
• The Efficiency Paradox: Why Vietnam's Hiring Growth Is Not Matching Budget Growth in 2026
• Vietnam Hiring Outlook 2026: Skills, Sectors & Salary Signals Employers Must Know

About the Author

Valerie Ong, Regional Head of Marketing, Reeracoen Group

Valerie leads content and market insights for Reeracoen across Asia, working closely with Reeracoen's specialist recruitment consultants to translate hiring data, salary benchmarks, and labour market trends into practical guidance for employers and professionals across the region. Her work draws on Reeracoen's proprietary research, including the Salary Guide, Hiring Pulse, and Hiring Manager Survey.

Language Note

This article is published in English. Reeracoen Vietnam also publishes selected content in Vietnamese and Japanese for its bilingual and Japanese-speaking professional community.

Reeracoen Group × Rakuten Insight. The Great Restructuring: ASEAN Consumer & Business Pulse Survey 2026

Survey statistics and market comparisons in this article are drawn from the sources above. Practical recommendations and forward-looking implications are Reeracoen's editorial interpretation and are identified separately from measured survey findings.

Disclaimer

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and reflects survey findings and market interpretation available at the time of publication. Business conditions, hiring trends and career outcomes vary by market, industry and individual circumstances. Survey findings should not be interpreted as guarantees of future hiring, investment, income or economic outcomes.