Top Industries Hiring Right Now in Vietnam 2025

Key takeaways

• Vietnam’s manufacturing sector leads the top industries hiring right now with 68% of companies adding staff, driven by global companies relocating operations to take advantage of lower costs and skilled labor pools
• Digital transformation creates steady demand across IT, e-commerce, and fintech roles requiring specialized skills, with particular growth in AI engineers and cybersecurity specialists
• Over 70% of Vietnam’s workers lack professional training, creating fierce competition for qualified candidates and strategic risks for scaling businesses
• Success requires competing for high-skilled professionals rather than traditional workers, forcing companies to become talent developers and skill builders

This comprehensive analysis reveals which industries that are hiring most aggressively and identifies the specific roles companies compete hardest to fill. Understanding these trends provides the foundation for strategic workforce planning. But the deeper challenge for leaders lies in recognizing that Vietnam’s hottest industries in high demand are undergoing profound restructuring, creating both unprecedented opportunities and significant strategic risks for companies unprepared for this skills-driven transformation.

Manufacturing and processing: Vietnam’s job creation engine

Manufacturing dominates Vietnam’s 2025 employment landscape as the most aggressive sector for workforce expansion. An impressive 68% of manufacturing companies are actively recruiting, making it one of the top hiring markets in the country. Most hiring activity concentrates in southern industrial powerhouses, including Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai.

This surge reflects Vietnam’s emergence as the preferred destination for global supply chain diversification. Major multinational corporations including Apple, Bosch, and LEGO are establishing or expanding manufacturing operations, creating thousands of new positions across skill levels. Foreign direct investment continues to flow into electronics, semiconductors, and processed foods manufacturing, generating substantial employment opportunities.

However, this sector reveals the complexity of Vietnam’s labor transformation. While overall hiring accelerates, traditional low-skill manufacturing roles in textiles and footwear face systematic elimination due to declining global orders and increased automation adoption. This trend reflects the broader layoff landscape affecting multiple industries in recent years. Companies are steadily replacing manual labor with technology-driven processes, fundamentally changing workforce requirements.

The real opportunity lies in high-value positions that drive operational excellence and competitive advantage. Companies compete intensely for production managers who can optimize complex manufacturing systems, automation engineers capable of integrating advanced technologies, quality control specialists ensuring international standards compliance, and maintenance engineers who minimize downtime and maximize equipment efficiency. These roles command premium compensation and represent the future of Vietnamese manufacturing competitiveness, often showing up among top jobs with fastest pay growth in Vietnam.

The digital wave: high demand in technology, e-commerce, and logistics

Three interconnected sectors form the backbone of Vietnam’s digital economy transformation, each creating distinct opportunities while reinforcing demand across the entire ecosystem. These represent some of the most resilient industries in high demand for 2025.

Information technology sector momentum

The IT sector maintains robust hiring despite global technology market volatility. Vietnamese companies actively recruit software developers, AI engineers, and cybersecurity specialists to support digital infrastructure expansion and innovation initiatives. Government policies promoting AI development and semiconductor workforce training further amplify demand for technical expertise, making this one of the most attractive industries to work in for career advancement.

E-commerce and logistics expansion

E-commerce demonstrates remarkable hiring growth driven by sustained consumer demand and increasingly sophisticated supply chain requirements. Digital marketing specialists design campaigns reaching Vietnam’s growing online consumer base, while e-commerce operations managers oversee complex fulfillment systems. Supply chain managers become critical for coordinating logistics networks supporting both domestic consumption and export operations.

Renewable energy emergence

Vietnam’s sustainability commitment creates entirely new employment categories within industries that are hiring for the green economy transition. Environmental engineers design clean energy systems, while clean energy project managers oversee large-scale renewable installations. This sector represents an early-stage opportunity for companies positioning themselves in Vietnam’s environmental transformation.

Finance and banking: a focus on digital expertise

Vietnam’s financial sector demonstrates the stark contrast between traditional role elimination and digital position creation, making it a perfect example of industry transformation dynamics. For companies seeking specialized talent in this space, retained search services become essential for accessing qualified candidates.

Traditional banking operations face significant workforce reductions as institutions embrace automation and cost optimization. Thousands of conventional banking positions disappear as digital platforms replace manual processes and branch operations consolidate.

Simultaneously, aggressive hiring targets roles supporting digital banking transformation:

• Fintech specialists develop innovative financial products and platforms
• Personal financial advisors serve increasingly sophisticated customer bases
• Risk management specialists navigate complex regulatory environments and cybersecurity threats

This sector illustrates how companies must think beyond simple headcount metrics to understand workforce quality and capability requirements. Understanding workforce metrics and data-driven insights becomes crucial for making informed hiring decisions in this rapidly evolving landscape.

The critical challenge with a widening skills gap

The most significant obstacle to capitalizing on Vietnam’s growth opportunities is the fundamental mismatch between available talent and business requirements. Government statistics reveal that over 70% of Vietnam’s workforce lacks professional training and certifications, creating a massive barrier to sustainable business expansion.

This skills shortage directly impacts business performance across multiple dimensions. Companies face extended recruitment timelines, increased hiring costs, and intense competition for qualified candidates. The shortage particularly affects high-value positions requiring specialized technical knowledge or advanced problem-solving capabilities.

For CEOs, this represents more than an HR challenge—it’s a strategic risk that can limit productivity growth, slow innovation cycles, and constrain scaling capabilities. Companies unable to access qualified talent find themselves unable to execute growth strategies or maintain competitive positioning in rapidly evolving markets.

The skills gap also creates wage inflation pressure as companies compete for limited qualified candidates. Organizations must factor higher compensation costs and longer recruitment cycles into their expansion planning and budget forecasting. Understanding salary benchmarks and compensation trends becomes essential for competitive positioning.

Vietnam’s 2025 job market presents compelling opportunities for companies with strategic workforce planning capabilities. The top industries hiring right now—manufacturing, technology, and digital finance—lead hiring demand, but success requires competing for high-skilled professionals rather than traditional labor categories. The critical skills gap affecting over 70% of workers means companies cannot simply hire their way to growth—they must become talent developers and capability builders.

Leaders who invest in both external recruitment through contingency search strategies and internal upskilling will capture market advantages while competitors struggle with talent shortages. The companies that build, train, and retain highly skilled workforces will lead the market, while those that fail to adapt risk being outpaced by competitors who can innovate and execute faster because they have the right people.