Vietnam IT recruiting market 2021-2022: What to expect?

Strong demand for Vietnam IT recruiting in 2021 and 2022 despite the ongoing Covid-19 situations. Let’s explore employer’s reactions in 2021 and the plans for working environment and recruitment in 2022. 

Employer Survey 2022 responses were collected from 221 unique IT employers across company region, type, size, and industry. We wanted to see what are the big insights for recruiting demands and influence of Covid-19 on IT recruiting market in 2021, the adaptation of working policies, and the most desired skills and positions in 2022.

We present to you the key findings of ITviec Employer Survey 2022.

You’ll get a lift out of each intriguing information that comes along.

In both 2021 and 2022, the majority of IT employers are on fire when it comes to recruitment.

As part of ITviec’s Employer Survey in 2021 and 2022, we asked employers about the impact of Covid-19 on their IT recruiting plan, including questions regarding their plan to expand the IT team and the salary of new IT recruits.

Here are the important numbers that we discovered:

More than 68% of employers confirmed that the COVID-19 epidemic had affected their recruitment plans in 2021.

When we surveyed employers about their recruiting plans for 2022, we discovered that 43.2% of them want to increase their IT team size to more than 30%. In 2021, this figure was merely 28%. 

At the end of 2021, 30.3% of responding employers said that their IT teams had grown by more than 30%, which was more than the 28% of employers who had planned to grow at the beginning of 2021.

Another positive market indicator is that the salary of new IT recruits will rise higher in 2022 than in 2021. 35.5% of respondents said they will boost new IT salaries by 10-20%. This is around 10% greater than in 2021.

In the same way that the IT team grew in 2021, the number of employers who actually raised the salary for new IT hires by 10-20% is significantly greater than expected. Based on the answers, 42.4% of employers actually raised the pay for new IT hires by 10–20% by the end of 2021.

This positive actual-planned growth rate in both team size and salary for new IT recruits are helpful hints for the IT job changing competition in 2022, when more IT applicants may choose switching or consider switching to higher-paid or larger IT team sizes.

Which IT positions and skills will be in high demand in 2021-2022?

More than 60% of IT employers said they were mostly “searching” for the following five positions in 2021-2022:

• Backend Developer 
• Frontend Developer
• Full-Stack Developer
• Tester / QA / QC
• Mobile Developer

This is the first time we inquired in the ITviec Employer Survey about the top IT skills that will be “wanted” in 2022, and the findings are:

• JavaScript
• Java
• Node.js
• PHP
• C#

In these lists, Java, PHP, and Tester appear to be a perfect match for ITviec’s supply and demand based on this data and the most common ITviec Job Site search phrases. One of the most encouraging signs of a successful recruiting year is the same emerging trend of IT employers and IT candidates. 

How do IT employers plan to keep/remove remote work?

Remote/hybrid working has become an increasingly popular topic in the workplace following three years of pandemic. However, would this trend be permanent, and how IT employers perceive the effectiveness of implementing this in 2021-2022? 

In terms of productivity satisfaction, employers are generally satisfied with the productivity of remote work in 2021, according to 28.2 percent of respondents who gave it an 8/10 rating.

However, when it comes to deciding whether to preserve or eliminate remote working permanently, we encounter opposing viewpoints.

We have 49.3% of employers who answered, “Yes, we will keep our remote working policy even when the situation returns to normal (without COVID-19).” and the main basis for this statement is that remote/hybrid work has been used at their daily operation prior to the epidemic, and it worked successfully thus far.

The rest of the opposite side (50.7%), which responded “No” to continuing remote/hybrid work, did so mostly because the effectiveness of communication and bonding has decreased when applied. One respondent stated, “Remote working is tough in Vietnam since not all employees have access to a good working environment and Internet access. When working remotely, junior employees are less likely to seek help or actively communicate with other colleagues.”

What is the application plan of other working policies?

This year’s survey asked how employers plan to add/remove other working policies, or if they have no plans. With 28.7% of respondents agreeing, flexible working hours is the policy that is most likely to be added.

This outcome is also consistent with many of our employers’ working plans for the coming years, in which the company and employees can choose between working on-site, from home, or a combination of the two during weekdays.

Key takeaways

• Despite the uncertain impact of Covid and Lock Down situation in Vietnam, in 2021, 30.3% of responding employers said that their IT teams had grown by more than 30%. Furthermore, 42.4% of employers actually raised the pay for new IT hires by 10–20% by the end of 2021.
• In 2022, the top 5 most in-demand IT skills and positions will be:

Top 5 skills: JavaScript, Java, Node.js, PHP, C#.

Top 5 positions: Backend Developer, Frontend Developer, Fulls-tack Developer, Tester / QA / QC, Mobile Developer.

• Only half of employers agree to keep remote working permanently in 2021, despite being overly satisfied with its efficiency.
• Flexible working hours is the policy that is most likely to be added, with 28.7% of respondents agreeing.

The best time to start reaching out to the best IT candidates in Vietnam is always now, these insights are here for you to make the best strategy of job postings, job descriptions, and employer brands. Talk to us now!