Vietnamese workers paid less than Southeast Asian peers

By HQonline, Dam Tuan April 28, 2016 | 05:00 am PT

According to employment website Jobstreet.com, many countries in Southeast Asia region pay their employees much more than workers in Vietnam, and only Indonesia has a similar salary rate.

A Filipino laborer's salary is approximately 1.5 times higher than a Vietnamese worker, while it’s three times more in Malaysia and nearly six times higher in Singapore.

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Construction engineering is currently one of the highest paid jobs in Vietnam. Photo by HQonline

Salaries vary depending on experience. Fresh graduates in Vietnam get paid $250 to $387 per month, while their peers in Singapore can earn from $1,337 to $1,879.

The gap is narrower at management and senior management levels, but still four times lower than Singapore and two times lower than Malaysia.

The report also shows that out of the top 10 highest paid salaries among Vietnam’s senior level staff, real estate managers topped the rankings with an average salary of nearly VND130 million (over $5,800) per month. They are followed by senior marketing staff with VND66 million (nearly $3,000) per month, IT ($2,900) and logistics (over $2,500).

Regarding middle and low level staff, health care workers ranging from newly-graduated students, experienced staff and managers came out on top with salaries from VND8.7 million to over VND30 million (more than $1,300) per month. Real estate staff get from VND8.8 million to over VND27.8 million (more than $1,200) per month.

Besides health care and real estate, the top 10 highest paid salaries in 2016 were in the IT, construction engineering, internet management, finance, marketing and business development sectors.

The 2016 salary report compiled by Jobstreet.com Vietnam surveyed over 50,000 companies. This year, the report is broken down specifically into levels from new and inexperienced staff to senior management.