Salaries of mid- and senior-level employees to rise by 5-25%

According to the results of a recent salary survey conducted by Navigos, nearly 27% of respondents said salaries of middle- and senior-level employees will rise by from 5% to less than 10%, more than 23% said salaries will remain unchanged, more than 15% said salaries will increase by less than 5%, and nearly 12% said they will rise by 10% to 15%.

Global Salary Survey 2023 conducted by Robert Walters in 31 countries, including Vietnam, said 88% of companies are willing to increase salaries by 15-25% this year.

For employees in some sectors like the digital industry, salary hikes could be as high as 35% during the year.

According to Navigos, many businesses are still in the post-pandemic recovery phase, and so have not been able to sharply increase salaries for their employees.

However, over 50% of the surveyed firms said they will improve policies on salary, bonuses, allowances, and other benefits such as flexible working hours, educational opportunities, promotions, and technological applications.

Phuc Pham, country manager at Robert Walters Vietnam, said there are two main reasons why companies are willing to raise salaries this year.

The first reason is the rising cost of living, with some 65% of firms reporting this to their employees.

Second, companies have difficulty in retaining employees, especially high-quality ones.

“Employees are also expecting higher salaries, because the recruitment market has a certain difference, when the number of employees to be recruited is bigger than the pool of suitable candidates,” Pham said.

According to Robert Walters, sectors with the highest salary growth prospects this year in Vietnam include supply chain, procurement and logistics, technology and transformation, and digital industry.

Meanwhile, sectors with the highest risks of job cuts include the legal sector, engineering and manufacturing, sales and marketing.

When asked about their expectations for their companies' salary and bonus policies this year, over 45% of the 4,170 people polled by Navigos said they wanted an annual salary increase of 10% or more.

The year 2023 could also be the year when mid- and senior-level employees are more willing to change jobs after the two stressful years of the pandemic.

According to Robert Walters, 74% of employees expressed their intention to work in other units of their firms, or to change jobs this year. And due to the expected increase in the cost of living, nearly 87% of surveyed employees expected a salary hike in the year.

In the Robert Walters survey, the three criteria other than salary that candidates appreciated the most in employers are remuneration and benefits, an inspiring work culture and colleagues, and flexible working hours.