Vietnamese Tech Industry 2024-2025
A plain-English snapshot based solely on ITviec's Salary & Recruitment Market Report
1. At-a-glance numbers
| Metric | Latest figure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Market size (forecast) | ≈ 3.2 b USD by 2028 (CAGR ≈ 11.6 %) | Vietnam is one of APAC's fastest-growing IT hubs |
| Median IT salary | 43.7 m VND / month (≈ 1 850 USD) | +27.9 % YoY, driven by a more senior talent mix |
| Firms freezing or shrinking IT head-count (H1 2025) | 38.7 % | AI-led efficiency shifts hiring strategies |
| IT pros planning to change jobs within 12 mo | ≈41 % | Retention remains a major challenge |
2. Where developers actually work
2.1 Company types
Half of Vietnamese tech talent now builds in-house products, not just outsourced code.
| Company type | Share of IT pros |
|---|---|
| IT Product (build & sell own software) | 49 % |
| IT Outsourcing (contract engineering) | 27.9 % |
| IT Services / Consulting | 11.5 % |
| Non-IT businesses (banks, retailers, pharma…) | 11.6 % |
Take-away: Vietnam's devs are increasingly product-focused, signalling a maturing ecosystem.
2.2 Hot employer domains
The same verticals dominate the "Top 10 industry" tables across job families:
| Rank | Typical domains hiring | Why they hire |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Web & Software Products, IT Services & Consulting | Digital projects for local & global clients |
| 2 | Finance / Banking / FinTech | Core-bank revamps, e-wallets, insure-tech |
| 3 | E-commerce & Retail | Post-COVID online boom needs constant feature work |
| 4 | Manufacturing & Engineering | Smart-factory & IoT roll-outs in export plants |
| 5 | AI / Blockchain / Deep-Tech | R&D labs scale up advanced projects |
| 6 | Game & Entertainment | Mobile-game studios serving global markets |
| 7 | Telecom & Infrastructure | 5G deployment and network automation |
| 8 | Healthcare & Pharma | Health-tech apps, clinical data platforms |
| 9 | Logistics & Transportation | E-logistics, ride-hailing back-ends |
| 10 | Consumer goods & others | Loyalty, demand-forecasting solutions |
3. Hiring & salary trends
- Better talent match: Complaints about poor candidate quality dropped from 86 % (2023) to 56 % (early 2024).
- Salary heat cooling: Expected raises for a new job eased from ≈31 % to 27 %. Actual new-hire pay bumps slid to 33.6 % (early 2024) from 37.5 % (2023).
- Top paychecks: CTO/CIO roles lead at ≈130 m VND / month; security engineers follow (82 m VND).
- Best-paid languages: Go devs top the chart (≈ 50 m VND / month), then Python (≈ 42 m VND).
- Highest-paying sectors: Pharma averages 71 m VND; real-estate & agriculture now outrank banking and finance.
4. Roles & skills in demand
- Most-wanted roles (H1 2025): Back-end Dev & Full-stack Dev (each 56 %), Front-end (35 %), Tester (29 %).
- Top tech stack: JavaScript (46 % of listings) plus React.js (42 %) and .NET (31 %).
- Valued extras: Agile/Scrum project know-how & API design (32 % each); DevOps & CI/CD (29 %).
- Soft-skill gap: 40 % of employers rank English as the #1 soft skill; nearly half of devs are actively improving it.
5. Remote-work snapshot
- Hybrid is the norm: Average WFH dropped from 3 days/week (2023) to 2 days (2024). Two days is now the single most common pattern (32 %).
- By company type: Non-IT firms allow the fewest WFH days (1.9); tech-centric firms average 2.3 days.
- Western employers are most flexible: EU & Aus/NZ firms lead hybrid adoption (2.4-2.8 WFH days).
- Job-choice factor: Work-from-home options remain a top-three criterion in job decisions.
6. Freelance landscape
- Project mix: Web Development (55 %), Mobile Apps (33 %), Project Consulting (25.7 %) dominate.
- Clients: US projects lead (36 %), followed by Vietnamese (30 %) and Singaporean (27 %) work.
- Income: Average freelancer earns 30.9 m VND / month; AI/ML gigs pay almost double (58.7 m VND).
- Pain points: Competition (≈49 %), income stability (≈32 %), timely client payments (≈44 %).
7. Students & fresh grads
- Stress factors: 53 % feel under-prepared; 50 % worry about finding a job.
- Internships: 43 % have interned; 68 % of those internships are paid (≈5 m VND/month).
- Skill priorities: English speaking (73 %), real-world projects, Agile experience.
8. Challenges & opportunities
- Retention risk: 40 % of devs plan to quit within a year; pay, career growth, and product potential top exit reasons.
- Upskilling imperative: Practical experience & English remain key gaps; companies investing here win loyalty.
- AI double-edge: Firms use AI to boost output (hence slower hiring), yet AI-literate talent commands premiums.
- Emerging gold-mines: Cloud, AI/ML, blockchain, and high-paying non-traditional sectors (pharma, real-estate) offer fast-track career gains.
Recap
- Vietnam's tech workforce is no longer "cheap outsourcing" – half now build proprietary products.
- Salary inflation is moderating, but top talent and emerging skills still cost a premium.
- English and soft skills are the biggest bottlenecks; addressing them unlocks global-scale opportunities.
- Hybrid work is settling at ≈2 days remote – a useful benchmark for policy and office planning.
- Retaining talent needs more than perks – clear paths and competitive pay remain critical.
All insights courtesy of the ITviec Vietnam's IT Salary & Recruitment Market Report 2024-2025.