LookAtVietnam – Viet Nam’s average monthly gross salary increased by 16.47 per cent from April 2008 to March 2009,

Despite the economic situation, gross salaries increased for most industries.

Despite the economic situation, gross salaries increased for most industries.

Leading the pack was the real estate and property development sector at 23.25 per cent.

Financial services led the salary increases for the last two years, dropping to the second place with 21.78 per cent.

Winnie Lam, director of HR Advisory Services of Navigos Group, said: “Although the majority of the salary increments were given in the earlier months of the surveyed period, the results are in line with our findings in another stand-alone Trend Survey which was conducted earlier this year.”

“Even though the job market may not be as red-hot as before, there are still gaps between supply and demand in the labour market which is the key driver of the salary trend we are seeing,” she said.

Compensation in the form of benefits, however, dropped to 7 per cent from 16 per cent from a year ago.

The survey results were compiled from input from 163 employers across Viet Nam, spanning more than 15 industries which covered 75 job categories. Among those industries, manufacturing and industry had the highest participating rate, followed by information technology.

Companies participating in the Viet Nam Salary Survey 2009 come from different localities nationwide, mainly from HCM City and Ha Noi.

Contrary to last year, companies south of and outside of HCM City reported the highest increase at 20.54 per cent, ahead of both HCM City and Ha Noi.

Among the participating companies in the survey, 47 per cent were foreign owned. Local Vietnamese companies made up merely 11.7 per cent.

However, they did report a higher salary increase at 16.45 per cent compared with foreign-owned (15.61 per cent) companies. “Perhaps it is an attempt to catch up with the rest of the market,” said Lam.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News