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

Vietnam Employers Are Hiring More in 2026, But Struggling to Compete for the Talent They Need

New study by Reeracoen Vietnam reveals a market under pressure: 7 in 10 employers plan to expand headcount, yet rising salary expectations, critical skill shortages and flat recruitment budgets are making every hire harder to close.

69% of employers plan to hire more in 2026

86% cite rising salary expectations as #1 challenge

84% expect new hire salaries to increase

73% say digital/AI skills are critically lacking

HANOI / HO CHI MINH CITY: Reeracoen Vietnam, one of the country's leading specialist recruitment firms, today released the Vietnam Employer Hiring Study 2026, a comprehensive new study surveying employers across Vietnam's key industries and company types. The findings paint a picture of a market defined by ambition and constraint in equal measure.

Vietnam's economy continues to attract significant foreign direct investment, and employer confidence is strong. Yet beneath the surface, a set of structural tensions is making talent acquisition increasingly difficult and increasingly expensive.

KEY FINDINGS

Hiring is growing, but budgets are not keeping pace

69% of employers expect to increase hiring activity in 2026, with 14% anticipating significant growth. Yet only 43% plan to increase their recruitment budget. This "Efficiency Paradox", where hiring demand is rising but resources remain flat, will force companies to fundamentally rethink how they source and select candidates.

Salary inflation is the defining pressure of 2026

86% of employers cite rising salary expectations as their top hiring challenge, more than any other factor by a wide margin. At the same time, 84% expect to raise salaries for new hires, and 33% name salary competition as their biggest employee retention risk. Wage inflation is simultaneously making hiring more expensive and making retention harder.

A critical vacuum at the mid-level

The study identifies a structural talent gap that Reeracoen describes as the "Mid-Level Talent Vacuum": 39% of employers struggle to find mid-level managers, and the hardest-to-fill roles, manufacturing engineers (35%), sales and business development professionals (35%), and factory supervisors (33%) - are all experienced, specialist positions. Vietnam's talent pipeline produces graduates; it does not yet reliably produce the next layer of leadership above them.

Digital skills are the workforce gap employers fear most

73% of respondents identified digital and AI-related skills as the most critical upskilling priority for Vietnam's workforce, far ahead of leadership development (51%) and English communication (37%). As AI tools become embedded in manufacturing, logistics and commercial operations, employers across all sectors are demanding capabilities that the current talent pool cannot yet consistently deliver.

“Vietnam's hiring market in 2026 is not a market in difficulty. It is a market in transition. The employers who will win are those who move decisively: on compensation, on talent development, and on the quality of their recruitment partnerships. The data makes clear that doing more of the same will not be enough.”   Masato Sekine, Country Manager, Reeracoen Vietnam

 

“Across Asia-Pacific, we are seeing similar patterns emerge, hiring demand remains strong, but execution is becoming the defining challenge. Vietnam is one of the most dynamic markets in the region, and the ability to attract and retain talent will be a key differentiator for companies operating here.”   Kenji Naito, Group Chief Executive Officer, Reeracoen Group

 

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE MARKET

Looking ahead, the study points to five structural trends that will shape Vietnam's talent landscape over the next 12-24 months:

• Recruitment efficiency will become a competitive advantage. Companies that reduce time-to-hire and improve shortlisting precision will consistently outperform those relying on reactive, high-volume approaches.
• Compensation benchmarking will move from annual exercise to continuous practice. In a market where salary expectations can shift within a quarter, companies that lack real-time market data will lose candidates at offer stage and lose employees to counter-offers.
• The mid-level management gap will worsen before it improves. Without deliberate investment in internal leadership development, companies will compete for an increasingly scarce and expensive pool of experienced managers.
• Digital fluency will become a baseline hiring criterion across all sectors, not just technology companies. Candidates who cannot demonstrate foundational digital skills will find themselves at a growing disadvantage.
• Recruitment partnerships will deepen or disappear. 80% of employers want faster shortlisting and 69% want salary benchmarking from their recruitment partners. Agencies that cannot deliver both will be replaced by those that can.

ABOUT THE VIETNAM EMPLOYER HIRING STUDY 2026

The Vietnam Employer Hiring Study 2026 was conducted by Reeracoen Vietnam in March 2026. The study is based on responses from 51 employers across Vietnam, representing a broad cross-section of the business community, spanning Japanese-affiliated companies (61%), Western foreign-invested firms (22%), local Vietnamese companies (12%) and other foreign-invested businesses, across industries including manufacturing, IT, services, construction and trading.

The full report is available at https://www.reeracoen.com.vn/en/events/reeracoen-vietnam-employer-hiring-study-2026

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

Email: valerie@reeracoen.sg   |   Mobile: +65 9126 1888

www.reeracoen.com.vn