Most Vietnamese IT staff want to switch jobs

A report on survey results recently released by VietnamWorks says 47.5 percent of the Information Technology (IT) staff cited "wanting higher salary" as their reason for the switch.

"Wanting to be promoted" ranked as the second reason at 15.7 percent, while "wanting to a new work environment" came in third at 10 percent.

Most IT respondents said that they deserve a higher salary and expect increases of between $300 and $1,000.

Senior developers in Ho Chi Minh City, for example, receive an average salary of $1,098 a month, but they expect this figure to be $1,563.

The gap increases with higher positions. IT mangers in HCMC earn on average $1,550 a month, but they desire $2,625.

Although most respondents received bonuses and incentives, over 20 percent were not happy. According to 28.9 percent of unhappy respondents, the bonus amount was too low, and 25.1 percent said the types of bonuses given were insufficient.

Gaku Echizenya, CEO of Navigos Group, the parent company of VietnamWorks, said that the increasing demand for IT human resources in the digital age has led to challenges in attracting and keeping employees in Vietnam.

"We believe that the salary, bonus and incentives for employees need to be improved to meet their expectations."

The survey polled 1,083 IT employees in 2018.

A report by IT recruiting firm TopDev released in January said that the Vietnamese IT sector faces a big shortage, as demand is set to go up from 320,000 engineers this year to 400,000 in 2020.

The shortfall is 75,000 this year, and set to increase to 100,000 in 2020, it added.