This is the forecast in the Vietnam IT Market Report 2023 just announced by TopDev - a platform specializing in recruiting IT personnel.

About 30% of employees meet the skills and requirements.

According to the report, the shortage of IT personnel is always the most difficult problem for the information technology market. The current number of programmers in Vietnam is only about 530,000 people.

Although salaries and bonuses in this industry are increasing significantly, it is predicted that from 2023 to 2025, Vietnam will still have a shortage of 150,000 - 200,000 programmers and engineers annually.

Of the more than 57,000 IT engineers entering the job market each year, only about 30% of the workforce meet the skills, expertise, and practical requirements set by businesses. The remaining 70% need to be arranged for additional training at the business for 3-6 months to get acquainted with the job and working environment.

According to TopDev's assessment, Vietnamese workers have the ability to quickly absorb theory but are limited in practical skills in applying high technology.

Regarding the recruitment situation, TopDev said that many high-growth technology companies have recruited aggressively during and after the pandemic to meet the unprecedented demand for digital goods and services. Although the employment rate in Ho Chi Minh City decreased slightly (2%) compared to 2022, Ho Chi Minh City still plays an important role as a technology hub in Vietnam.

Notably, most employers expect programmers to have at least a basic level of foreign language proficiency and limited to their technical roles.

In addition to English, Japanese and Korean have emerged as two popular foreign language requirements in recent job descriptions. Employers from Japan and Korea, who are looking for programmers with foreign language skills, often require professional qualifications.

New employee salary 1,000 USD/month

The report shows that the average salary in the IT industry only increased slightly by 0.7% compared to last year, but compared to other industries, salaries for positions related to this industry are still high.

Most positions start their careers with a salary that is not too different. After 2 years out of school, the salary model will move in a different direction related to technology and can be greatly influenced by the job market, economic conditions, and emerging business requirements.

Salaries typically increase as workers advance through the ranks. Programmers with experience and seniority are rewarded with better pay.

Specifically, new graduates in the IT market receive an average salary of 435 - 514 USD/month. After 2 years of working, when programmers have accumulated some basic knowledge and work experience, the salary increase rate is faster.

Specifically, more than 70% of junior positions have salaries of 600 - 1,000 USD/month; nearly 50% of middle-level employees have salaries ranging from 1,100 - 1,500 USD/month; senior employees have salaries of about 1,100 - 2,000 USD/month and only about 10% receive from 2,500 USD/month.

Core technology stacks like Java, Python, .Net, C++ & PHP have remained consistently high paying over the years. New high tech skills related to cloud/AI/ML/DevOps are seeing more investment with higher salaries given the huge impact of today’s real world applications of cloud computing, Generative - AI and modern software development workflows.

In the coming time, due to changes and influences of the socio-economic situation as well as based on the hard and soft skills that programmers possess, this recruitment platform predicts that the salary of IT personnel will be classified more clearly.

Therefore, in addition to improving professional skills, soft skills such as development thinking ability, communication, time management, and foreign language proficiency are also important factors that programmers need to pay attention to.