What Is DEI? A Practical Guide for Employers in Vietnam

Key Takeaways

• The most common misconception about DEI is that it means hitting hiring quotas for underrepresented groups. Its core is equity, meaning fair opportunity, which differs from equality, where everyone receives the same input regardless of need.
• The wave of DEI cuts across Western corporations does not reflect the direction in Asia, where several countries are strengthening their commitments. Cutting DEI to follow a global signal can be the wrong call for Vietnam’s labour market.
• DEI in Vietnam rests on its own legal foundation through the Constitution, the Law on Gender Equality, and the Labour Code, with a diversity focus broader than the ethnicity lens that dominates the Western model.
• Real DEI starts by measuring employee experience to find where fairness is missing, not by launching a communications campaign with no underlying data.

Vietnam’s labour market now includes a generation of workers who place a high value on fairness, while the wave of DEI cutbacks across the West sends a conflicting signal. The question for employers is not whether to follow or reject DEI, but how to understand what it actually is and apply it to the local context.

What DEI means: the three pillars of diversity, equity, and inclusion

DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Diversity is about who is on the team. Equity is about distributing opportunity and resources according to differing needs. Inclusion is about whether every individual is genuinely heard and able to contribute. The point most often confused is the line between equity and equality. Equality gives everyone the same resource; equity adjusts the resource so that everyone starts from the same place. How these three pillars are understood is also evolving alongside the global landscape.

Why DEI gets misread and cut at the wrong time

The first trap is tokenism. Many organisations launch diversity initiatives to mark a box but change nothing about how they hire, evaluate, or promote. A younger workforce spots that gap quickly and expects DEI commitments to be authentic and measurable, rather than a communications message. That expectation turns surface-level DEI into a liability rather than an asset.

The second trap comes from the global signal. Over the past two years, major US corporations have narrowed or eliminated their DEI programmes. Meta disbanded its internal DEI team, Amazon wound down a range of initiatives, and Target ended its DEI programmes and then absorbed a prolonged consumer boycott that hit sales and share price. That pressure leads some employers in Vietnam to consider the same move.

But cutting DEI to match a Western signal misreads the context. In Asia, the trend runs the other way. Japan has set a national target of at least 30% women on the boards of Prime-listed companies by 2030, and companies are racing to meet it. Singapore has passed its first law against workplace discrimination. Legal and cultural context, not a headline from another market, is what determines whether DEI fits.

How DEI in Vietnam differs from the Western model

Applying the Western DEI template to Vietnam is a common mistake. The legal foundation and the diversity focus here differ enough to require their own approach.

The legal foundation and cultural context in Vietnam

In Vietnam, DEI does not sit outside the law; it is anchored in an existing anti-discrimination framework. The Constitution affirms equality between men and women and prohibits gender-based discrimination. The Law on Gender Equality and the Labour Code translate this principle into hiring, pay, training, and working conditions, including specific protections for female workers. Unlike the Western model, which centres on ethnicity, Vietnam’s legal framework places its focus on gender equality and fair access to employment.

The right diversity focus

Diversity in Vietnam should be read more broadly than gender. Differences in generation, region, experience, and perspective create a competitive resource that many employers overlook. Equity shows up in transparent promotion, commensurate pay, and access to training, not only in the makeup of new hires. An inclusive environment retains people because they are able to contribute and are recognised, not because of surface-level perks. Getting the focus right is necessary, but to keep DEI from stopping at a slogan, a company needs a data-driven DEI strategy.

Start real DEI by measuring employee experience

The effective approach reverses the familiar order. Instead of announcing a commitment and then finding activities to fill it, a company begins by measuring the actual employee experience. A well-designed engagement survey reveals which groups feel they lack opportunity, where the hiring or promotion process creates unfairness, and the gap between the organisation’s message and how employees actually feel.

From that data, a company selects a few focused interventions rather than spreading effort thin. Each change is tied to a measurable indicator and reviewed after one cycle to confirm real impact. DEI runs as a continuous management system, not a campaign with an end date.

This is the line between a company that treats DEI as a compliance cost and one that treats it as a capability for keeping people. When the focus sits on data and action rather than image, DEI becomes part of HR strategy, not a passing statement.

Conclusion

DEI is not a movement to chase or drop based on an outside signal; it is a way of operating that helps employers retain talent in an increasingly diverse workforce. The sensible starting point is a genuine measure of employee experience, not a statement. Talentnet’s employee engagement survey helps pinpoint the right intervention from the first step.