Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam  |  July 2026  |  Contact: valerie@reeracoen.sg

Reeracoen Vietnam Study Reveals 64% of Workers Plan to Change Jobs in 2026 as Salary Loses Priority

Flagship study of 254 Vietnamese professionals exposes a high-mobility, high-expectation workforce, and reveals a striking divide between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in what workers want from their employers

 

HO CHI MINH CITY, July 2026

Reeracoen Vietnam, a leading specialist recruitment and HR advisory firm, today released the Vietnam Worker Sentiment Study 2026, its annual workforce research report. Based on 254 responses collected from Vietnamese professionals in 1H 2026, the study provides valuable insights into what Vietnam's workforce wants from work, and what employers must do to compete in an increasingly demanding talent market.

“Vietnam’s workforce is becoming more selective, more mobile, and more intentional about what they want from employers,” said Masato Sekine, Managing Director of Reeracoen Vietnam. “Companies that continue relying on compensation alone will struggle to retain talent. The organisations that succeed in 2026 will be those able to offer stronger culture, flexibility, career growth, and meaningful employee support.”

The study delivers two headline findings. First: Vietnam's labour market is operating at peak mobility, with nearly two-thirds of workers planning to change jobs this year and only 10% firmly committed to staying. Second: salary has lost its position as the defining factor in employment decisions, replaced by a broader set of expectations around culture, flexibility, career growth, and wellbeing.

Alongside the national findings, the study reveals for the first time a meaningful divergence between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, with workers in each city prioritising starkly different things from their employers.

 

64%	of Vietnamese workers plan to change jobs in 2026. A further 26% are undecided, leaving only 10% firmly committed to staying with their current employer.

91%	are actively searching or passively open to new roles at any given time, confirming that Vietnam's labour market is now effectively always-on.

60%	would accept a lower salary specifically for better mental health and wellbeing support, the study's single most striking data point and a direct challenge to how employers design their people offering.

75%	prefer working for a foreign-owned company over a locally-owned Vietnamese firm, a structural employer brand challenge that domestic businesses can no longer afford to ignore.

 

Salary Is No Longer the Deciding Factor

When asked to name the single most important factor when evaluating a new job, only 23% of respondents cited base salary. The remaining 77% chose non-monetary priorities: work-life balance (18%), job stability (13%), training and upskilling opportunities (12%), career advancement (11%), and company culture (11%).

The trade-off data is equally revealing. 67% of workers said they would accept a lower salary for better working conditions. When tested against specific benefits, 60% would take a pay cut for better mental health and wellbeing support, 45% for better work-life balance, 44% for greater job stability, and 41% for a more flexible working policy.

 

"This data fundamentally reframes how employers in Vietnam should think about their value proposition. Workers are telling us clearly that salary is the entry ticket, not the differentiator. The companies that will win the talent competition in 2026 are those investing in the full experience: culture, flexibility, career development, and genuine care for their people's wellbeing." Masato Sekine, Country Manager, Reeracoen Vietnam

 

Retention Remains a Critical Challenge

Approximately 44% of respondents said they were likely or very likely to stay with their current employer over the next 12 months (14% very likely, 30% likely). A further 30% remain undecided, representing the greatest opportunity for employers to strengthen retention before employees actively decide to leave. Meanwhile, 26% said they were unlikely or very unlikely to remain with their current employer.

Workers were asked what would make them stay. The answers span a broad range of levers, many of which are within immediate management control: significant salary increases (43%), better bonuses and benefits (34%), better work-life balance (34%), greater recognition (24%), and clearer career advancement paths (24%). Many of these retention levers are within immediate management control, making retention as much a leadership challenge as an investment one.

A Tale of Two Cities: HCMC and Hanoi Diverge on What Matters Most

One of the study's most commercially significant findings is a clear divergence between Vietnam's two major cities in what workers prioritise and how they respond to employer actions. The cities share the same structural pressures but have distinctly different workforce personalities.

Finding	HCMC	Hanoi
Most important job factor	Work-life balance (21%)	Salary (30%)
Actively searching right now	47%	39%
Salary as top retention lever	50%	71%
Prefer hybrid work	69%	61%
Prefer mainly or fully in-office	25%	37%
2nd choice overseas destination	Singapore (23%)	Europe (24%)
Expect economy to deteriorate	29%	37%

 

HCMC workers are experience-led. Work-life balance ranks above salary as the most important job factor. Non-monetary retention levers carry significant weight. Hybrid working is strongly preferred. And workers show a strong pull toward Singapore as a career destination, reflecting deep commercial ties between the two cities.

Hanoi workers are growth-led. Salary is the top job priority by a wide margin, and it is by far the dominant retention lever, cited by 71% compared to 50% in HCMC. Hanoi workers also place greater emphasis on learning and upskilling when considering a job change, and show a stronger orientation toward Europe and further-afield destinations for overseas work. Hanoi is also measurably more pessimistic about the economy, a factor that likely reinforces its strong salary-oriented mindset.

 

"Vietnam is not one talent market. HCMC and Hanoi have different workforce personalities, different motivations, and different expectations from employers. Companies applying a single hiring and retention playbook across both cities are almost certainly underperforming in at least one of them. City-level differentiation is no longer optional. It is a competitive necessity." Masato Sekine, Country Manager, Reeracoen Vietnam

 

A Globally Ambitious Workforce

65% of Vietnamese workers are open to or actively considering working overseas within three years. Japan leads as the top destination nationally (cited by 66 respondents), but the ranking diverges sharply by city: HCMC workers favour Singapore as their second choice, while Hanoi workers skip Singapore entirely and favour Europe. 75% of all respondents prefer working for a foreign-owned company, with only 5% actively preferring a Vietnamese-owned firm.

Hybrid Work Is Now the Baseline Expectation

65% of Vietnamese workers prefer hybrid working arrangements. Only 7% favour fully remote work, suggesting that workers value in-person connection but want autonomy over when they come in. The preference varies by city: HCMC leans more strongly toward hybrid (69%), while Hanoi shows greater tolerance for in-office arrangements (37% prefer mainly or fully in office). Reeracoen Vietnam warns that employers without a clear and credible hybrid policy are already losing candidates before compensation discussions begin.

Vietnam's Workforce Is Ready for AI and the Digital Future

77% of Vietnamese workers are comfortable or very comfortable using AI tools in their day-to-day work, with AI comfort levels nearly identical across HCMC and Hanoi (both at 80%). 83% consider employer-provided training and upskilling to be important or critical over the next one to two years. The data suggests the gap is not worker readiness but employer leadership in providing structured pathways for AI integration and skills development.

 

"What we are seeing in Vietnam is a leading indicator for the broader Southeast Asian talent market. Workforce expectations are rising faster than many employers have adapted to, and the gap between what workers want and what organisations are offering is widening. The data from this study reinforces what we see across the region: the employers who invest now in people strategy, not just headcount, will build the talent advantages that define the next decade." Kenji Naito, Group CEO, Reeracoen Group

 

Key Findings at a Glance

• 64% of Vietnamese workers plan to change jobs in 2026; 91% are actively searching or passively open.

• Only 23% cite salary as the most important factor when evaluating a new role.

• 60% would accept lower pay for better mental health and wellbeing support.

• 26% of workers are unlikely or very unlikely to remain with their current employer over the next 12 months, while a further 30% remain undecided.

• 75% prefer working for a foreign-owned company; only 5% prefer a Vietnamese-owned firm.

• 65% are open to working overseas within three years; Japan leads nationally as the top destination.

• HCMC workers prioritise work-life balance (21%) above salary (19%) when choosing a new role.

• Hanoi workers rank salary first (30%) by a wide margin, and cite it as a retention lever far more often than HCMC (71% vs 50%).

• Singapore is HCMC's preferred second overseas destination; Hanoi workers favour Europe instead.

• 65% prefer hybrid working; Hanoi shows greater in-office tolerance (37%) than HCMC (25%).

• 77% are comfortable using AI tools at work, consistent across both cities.

• 83% consider employer-provided upskilling important or critical in the next 1-2 years.

About the Vietnam Worker Sentiment Study 2026

The Vietnam Worker Sentiment Study 2026 was conducted by Reeracoen Vietnam in 1H 2026 via an online structured questionnaire distributed to Reeracoen Vietnam's candidate database and professional network. The study received 254 responses from workers across industries, career levels, age groups, and geographic regions including Ho Chi Minh City (n=138), Hanoi (n=65), and other provinces (n=51). The full report is available upon request.

About Reeracoen Vietnam

Reeracoen is an award-winning leader in Asia's recruitment landscape, connecting top-tier talent with forward-thinking organisations across the region. With 9 offices across 6 major Asian countries, we combine deep local networks with cross-border hiring expertise to help businesses grow faster and stronger. In Vietnam, we uphold the highest standards of professionalism and service quality, providing innovative and trusted recruitment solutions to help businesses and candidates succeed in an evolving digital economy.

For more information, visit www.reeracoen.com.vn and follow us on social media.

 

Media Contact

Valerie Ong

Regional Marketing Manager, Reeracoen Group

www.reeracoen.com.vn

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The full Vietnam Worker Sentiment Study 2026 report, including the HCMC vs Hanoi city comparison, is available upon request.