VietNamNet Bridge – The competition among businesses for senior personnel has become fierce.

When Son worked as a marketing director for a retail company three years ago, he often got offers for new jobs from headhunting companies.

He was promised better job promotion opportunities, higher salaries and allowances.

At first, he did not care much about the offers because he was still happy with his job. However, even though he refused the jobs, a headhunting firm still pursued him.

He received gifts and congratulations on special occasions from the firm and he repeatedly was reminded that the job was still open for him.

Son finally decided to leave the retail company for the new job for which he earns 50 percent more than in the past, and has been working there ever since.

The human resource director of a civil engineering company commented that it is very difficult to find talented staff for key positions because there are not many candidates who can satisfy the requirements.

“Therefore, you need to be very patient when chasing someone,” he said. “It may take years to catch them. And of course, you need to offer very attractive salaries to be able to have them.”

The senior personnel executive said that, in general, his company seeks high-level personnel via headhunting firms, though it must pay high costs for this. The company also looks for talent via its own connections.

“Normal measures will not help you find suitable candidates. A high salary is not the only thing talented people want,” he said. “You need to use special measures to persuade them to work for you”.

Huynh Minh Quan, CEO of NhanViet Management Group, also commented that the battle in the senior personnel market is very stiff.

“This is not only the battle among candidates to get attractive jobs, but also the competition among businesses to find talented workers,” Quan said.

Nguyen Thi Van Anh, managing director of Navigos, a provider of executive search and management consultancy services, said the supply of highly qualified personnel is very low.

Navigos’ report about the labor market in the second quarter of the year showed high demand for highly qualified personnel from five economic sectors.

The highest demand is from the production sector (17 percent of the total demand), followed by the consumer goods and retail sector (14 percent) and finance, banking and insurance (10 percent).

The demand from the information technology and textile and garment sectors is 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Of the five sectors, consumer goods & retail has seen the sharpest increase in demand (14 percent in the second quarter vs 6 percent in the first quarter).

Meanwhile, the demand for high-level personnel in HCM City is higher than in Hanoi.

The highest monthly salary, VND161 million is now paid to the business director of a HCM City-based biotechnology company.

In Hanoi, the highest pay, VND147 million a month, is offered to the personnel director of a manufacturing group.

Kim Chi