IT bonuses hit 6-month salary level

Lunar New Year, or Tet, bonuses equal one- to six-month salaries, depending on employee position, experience and performance, according to a recent survey by HCMC-based IT recruiter TopDev.

An experienced IT pro would earn a one-month salary bonus this year on average, at $1,329, said the survey, which polled over 75,700 IT staff and 1,300 employers.

However, over 50 percent of IT staff surveyed said they deserve more. 3.5 percent of respondents added they would not receive any bonus this year.

The survey revealed a 2-4 year experienced employee earns up to $1,161 per month, salaries rising with experience.

Managers with over five years’ experience get up to $2,355 a month, while those with more than 10 years’ experience earn at least $2,550.

IT staff on average see their salaries rise 12-18 percent after a year.

The high salary range came as demand for IT staff increases. The number of IT job posts last year rose 56 percent year-on-year to reach a new peak at 62,829 posts, the study noted.

The country needs 400,000 IT staff this year, against an expected shortage of 100,000, it said, with demand set to hit 500,000 next year.

Shortages came as training fails to fulfill business demand as technology development occurs faster than changes in school programs, the study revealed. IT students also lack soft skills and English fluency, it was added.

Vietnam’s revenue from information and communications technology was estimated at $112.35 billion last year, up 13.6 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.