IT recruiters will be seeking up to 350,000 programmers in 2018, a 20-fold increase compared to 2016, according to the Salary, Welfare and Trends in the IT Sector in Vietnam Report for the second quarter from TopDev Vietnam.

There are currently only 200,000 available programmers, meaning the market is short of 150,000. 

“Vietnam is considered an ideal destination for leading IT companies in the world,” said Mr. Nguyen Huu Binh, CEO of TopDev.

The imbalance between supply and demand of programmers has triggered greater competition in attracting and retaining talent among companies, with many willing to pay higher than the average salary. 

Programmers with experience in hot sectors such as cloud computing, big data and AI can earn monthly salaries from $1,000 to $1,500.

The normal salary for newly-graduated candidates or those with less than two years’ experience is from $350 to $520. Those with more than two years’ experience can earn from $750 to $812 and those with more than five years’ experience in management position can earn from $980 to $1,530. Those with more than ten years’ experience can be paid from $2,300 to $2,850 in director positions or higher.

Retaining talent is a difficult endeavor for enterprises, because up to 42 per cent of programmers like to move between jobs, with 35 per cent saying they are dissatisfied with their salary. TopDev, however, said this was merely the reason they gave employers when leaving.

The true reason are they aren’t satisfied with welfare policies of their employers and the general absence of training programs to help them improve their competencies. Only 25 per cent of programmers are supported by their employer to attend training courses.

Though Vietnam is considered a paradise for outsourcing, in recent years its IT market has changed from outsourcing to supplying IT products with more diverse services. In the last four years, the number of IT jobs has increased rapidly. In 2016, IT recruitment increased 45 per cent compared to 2012.

The report was prepared based on a survey of over 5,500 IT candidates and more than 150 employers and TopDev’s database in the last three years.

VN Economic Times