Average Salary

Kim,

That depends on the type of project.  Let's say...  In bullfightings, El Matador de Toros doesn't make too much.  Not at all, Senior...

Howie

Hi Howie,

Thanks for prompt reply.

I apply for position in foreign companies. They want me to put my expectation.

What is not so much and what would be reasonable?

Kim:
There's an old maxim (rule) in salary negotiations that the first person to mention numbers, loses.

Just put "As advised" in the box OR leave it unfilled.

Are you being hired from abroad, are they paying expenses, etc. TP HCM is the highest cost area in VN and food prices increased over 20% last year.

If you are Korean, and being hired by a Korean company, in Korea, you can explore what price offsets they offer. How will you travel, etc,

Check out apartment listings in CRAIGSLIST.com, VietNam section.

Expat payment is a widely misleading topic:
- The original expat package has plenty of goodies to entice executives to be relocated to foreign subsidiaries, supposedly to compensate for hardship living.
- After a couple of financial crisis and increasing motivation for people to work abroad, companies only give them to very few expats.
- More often, it is more like "local plus" (local pay plus a premium).
How much premium depends on the industry, supply demand and fit to the job description. Oil and gas pays most. IT less so.
- Project mgnt pays also vary from industry to industry.
Your best bet is to go to job database like Vietnamworks and search for similar job postings. More than often, they will also post salary range.

Othewise, the web is full of salary survey database for different job categories also for Vietnam.

expat staff for  project management gross salary 2000 - 3000 usd/month

Hey guys,

many thanks for your advise and help.

As I am a German with Vietnamese origin, the company does not count me as an expat. I also came to Vietnam on my own and applied for jobs. So the offers are for local positions. Since I am between local and expat its difficult to say what is reasonable in my case.

Anyway thanks for the help, I have to see how to negotiate this wisely.

Kim

Hi teacher mark,

Thanks for that useful information and the link posted.

I appreciate all replies posted.

Thanks a lot
Kim

Teacher Mark wrote:

Vietnam
Average Salary and Economy
Average annual income in Vietnam is around 99,724,800 VND (4,800 USD), according to 2011/2012 salary survey.

The Southeast Asia has the most cheap IT labor. With an average annual IT salary of around 5,000 USD, companies hire entry-level software developers. IT employees with a few years of experiences earn around 7,000 USD or more on average per year. Project Managers with experiences are paid about 9,000 USD or more on average per year.

IT sectors, Financial sectors and experienced engineers receive the highest salaries in Vietnam. Un-educated workers can earn much less. The countries minimal salaries are around 700 USD per year or even less.

http://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/arti … 11519.aspx

Assuming, those figures are survey based only and likely being done via internet, they are totally misleading. Barely the 700 seem real.
More realistic seem those numbers mentioned here:
"On this page:
Profile
People
History
Government
Political Conditions
Economy
Foreign Relations
U.S. Relations
Travel/Business
Background Notes A-Z
January 5, 2012Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Background Note: Vietnam

Official Name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam


PROFILE

Geography
Area: 331,114 sq. km. (127,243 sq. mi.); equivalent in size to Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee combined.
Cities (2009): Capital--Hanoi (pop. 6.472 million). Other cities--Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon; pop. 7.163 million), Haiphong (pop. 1.841 million), Danang (pop. 890,500), Can Tho (pop. 1.189 million).
Terrain: Varies from mountainous to coastal delta.
Climate: Tropical monsoon.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Vietnamese (sing. and pl.).
Population (2011): 90 million.
Annual population growth rate (2011): 1.077%.
Ethnic groups (2009): 54 groups including Vietnamese (Kinh) (73.594 million, or 85.7% of the population), Tay (1.89%), Thai (1.8%), Muong (1.47%), Khmer (1.46%), Chinese (0.95%), Nung (1.12%), Hmong (1.24%).
Religions (2008): Buddhism (approx. 50%), Catholicism (8%-10%), Cao Dai (1.5%-3%), Protestantism (0.5%-2%), Hoa Hao (1.5%-4%), Islam (0.1%), and other animist religions.
Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and other ethnic minority languages.
Education (2009): Literacy--94%.
Health (2011): Birth rate--17.07 births/1,000 population. Infant mortality rate--20.9 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy--73 yrs. Death rate--5.96/1,000 population.

Government
Type: Single-party constitutional republic (Communist Party).
Independence: September 2, 1945.
Constitution: April 15, 1992.
Branches: Executive--president (head of state and chair of National Defense and Security Council) and prime minister (heads cabinet of ministries and commissions). Legislative--National Assembly. Judicial--Supreme People's Court; Prosecutorial Supreme People's Procuracy.
Administrative subdivisions: 58 provinces, 5 municipalities (Can Tho, Haiphong, Danang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City).
Political party: Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) with over 3 million members, formerly (1951-76) Vietnam Worker's Party, itself the successor of the Indochinese Communist Party founded in 1930.
Suffrage: Universal over 18.

Economy
GDP: (2010) $102 billion; (2011, first 9 months) $81 billion.
Real GDP growth rate: (2010) 6.8%; (2011, first 9 months) 5.76%.
Per capita income (2010): U.S. $1,168.
Inflation rate: 9.2% (average monthly Consumer Price Index of 2010, year-on-year); 18.16% (average monthly Consumer Price Index of first 9 months of 2011, year-on-year).
External debt (2010): 42.2% of GDP, $32.50 billion.
Natural resources: Coal, crude oil, zinc, copper, silver, gold, manganese, iron.
Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (20.58% of GDP, 2010): Principal products--rice, coffee, cashews, maize, pepper (spice), sweet potato, pork, peanuts, plus extensive aquaculture of both fish and shellfish species. Cultivated land--12.2 million hectares. Land use--21% arable; 28% forest and woodland; 51% other.
Industry and construction (41.09% of GDP, 2010): Principal types--mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas, crude oil, water supply, cement, coal, and steel.
Services (38.33% of GDP, 2010): Principal types--tourism, wholesale and retail, repair of vehicles and personal goods, hotel and restaurant, transport storage, telecommunications.
Trade: Exports--(2010) $71.6 billion; (2011, first 9 months) $70 billion. Principal exports--crude oil, garments/textiles, footwear, fishery and seafood products, rice (world’s second-largest exporter), pepper (spice; world’s largest exporter), wood products, coffee, rubber, cashews, jewelry, and footwear. Major export partners--U.S., EU, ASEAN, Japan, China, and South Korea. Imports--(2010) $84 billion; (2011, first 9 months) $76.87 billion. Principal imports--machinery, oil and gas, iron and steel, garment materials, plastics, and electronics. Major import partners--China, ASEAN, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and EU. Exports to U.S.--(2010) $14.3 billion; (2011, first 9 months) $10.9 billion. Imports from U.S.--(2010) 3.7 billion; (2011, first 9 months) $2.8 billion."

Source: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4130.htm



Next reason why the first named numbers must be wrong or are not representative:

Manager     5     $34,538     717,568,000 VND     613,200,000 VND
Human Resources Manager     10     $25,922     538,558,077 VND     409,032,311 VND
Marketing Manager     6     $18,555     385,490,000 VND     282,266,666 VND
Architect     5     $13,325     276,831,111 VND     240,724,361 VND
Software Developer     12     $11,622     241,451,805 VND     192,678,814 VND
Sales Manager     8     $11,465     238,204,577 VND     180,369,119 VND

Those income equaling about 30% of the gross incomes in Germany. That would raise the average VN income to wel above the 10 000 USD a year. NO, THOSE NUMBERS ABOVE ARE WROMG, VERY WRONG and don't display any usable numbers.
In today's economical situation even very few expats might earn such figures.

Hi guys,

When a company has to ask for your salary history, chances are, that particular company might not be able to afford you.

At the same time, when you have to command a certain figure from an establishment, perhaps, that establishment is not the place you really want to be at.

I remember my days with the US Navy:  They never paid me a whole lot; and I had to go to hell and back for them.  But, pay was never our issue.  Nonetheless, the US Navy classified me as "one of the finest airmen to have walked the flightdecks;" and to me, those were the finest days of my life.

Therefore, look into your works and yourselves a little.  The right situation is often priceless.

Howie