A recent survey conducted by recruitment firm VietnamWorks found that up to 54% of Vietnamese workers are unsatisfied with their salaries.

Related Articles:

- The 2014 Vietnam Salary Guide: How Much Should You Make?

- The Highest Paying Jobs In Vietnam

- Nielsen: Vietnamese Are the Most Economical in SE Asia

The dissatisfaction may reflect a lack of salary benchmark data among employers, resulting in inadequate compensation packages, reports Thanh Nien.

“87 percent of companies that VietnamWorks surveyed haven’t made use of professional tools to evaluate salary levels...Therefore, these companies’ salary levels may not be competitive enough to attract quality candidates,” Gaku Echizenya, CEO of VietnamWorks told the paper.

55% of companies who took part in the survey said that they’d rater base salaries on a pre-set number while 62% said that they “find it wise” to settle on wages through direct negotiation.

36% of respondents in a separate 2014 VietnamWorks survey reported that their monthly salaries were under VND6 million while 32% found themselves in the VND6-9 million range.

Considering that in 2013 the per capita GDP in Vietnam was just under $2,000 per year, it stands to reason that these surveys were conducted in urban areas among office workers, rather than in the country’s hinterlands.

If you want to make bank, your best bet is to get a job in finance or banking.

A report released by Adeccolast year outlined the highest monthly salaries in the categories of Office Jobs, Sales and Marketing, Finance, Legal and Compliance, Engineering and Technical, Medical and Life Sciences, and Information Technology. All salaries are in VND.

Office Jobs

1. Legal Director – 200M
2. HR Director – 100M
3. Regional HR Manager – 80M

Sales and Marketing

1. Sales Director – 100M
2. Marketing Director – 80M
3. Account Director – 75M

Finance

1. Head of Corporate Banking – 500M
2. Chief Risk Officer – 400M
3. Chief Investment Officer – 400M

Legal and Compliance

1. Head of Legal – 200M
2. Government Affairs – 240M
3. Head of Compliance – 160M

Engineering and Technical

1. Engineering Manager – 90M
2. Sourcing Manager – 84M
3. Operations Manager  - 84M

Medical and Life Sciences

1. Pharmaceutical Business Unit Director – 147M
2. Pharmaceutical National Sales Manager – 95M
3. Pharmaceutical Product Manager – 70M

Information Technology

1. Chief Information Officer – 210M
2. Sales Director – 100M
3. IT Director – 90M

[Photo via thevietway]