Salary negotiations Vietnam

RCP79 wrote:

Hi all,

Today, afer round 3 the HR director is asking me to share them my salary expectations.

I would simply ask the HR director what is the salary range for this position. This should give you an idea what they are willing to pay on the low and high end. Then decide where you are comfortable accepting the position.

RCP79 wrote:

Thanks for the input

What rules we're changed this year?

Actually, before the first interview they also asked for a preferred salary.
So I gave them a ballpark figure to which they replied: is that gross or net?
Which (in Europe) is quite an unusual question, but since it did not scare them off I guess it is in their range.

Strange question, never heard that one before!! must be before & after tax etc

I'm thinking I should up the number a bit since I found out housing isn't included.

for sure you should, housing is not cheap, but depends on what salary they are offering suppose

RCP79 wrote:

Hi all,

I've been through several rounds of interviews for an expat job in HCMC.
(experienced / management level)

Today, afer round 3 the HR director is asking me to share them my salary expectations.
So I've been Googling for some latest salary guides.
But since this is quite new to me I was wondering: is this the normal way of working?
Does anyone have experience with how these negotiations usually work?
(I'm used to companies giving you the first offer)

And are there any specific benefits/requirements I need to keep in mind while negotiating a package?

Currently I gathered this much:
- Healthcare will be included
- I'll have to arrange my own housing.
- Flights / visa will be arranged by the company.

I have been in discussions with a MNC also having their operations in HCMC. Have had two rounds of discussions (in the last 5 months), still inconclusive and the salary negotiation part is yet to start.

20-25 years of experience, management level, TRC for full family, healthcare for full family, 2 round trips for full family in a year, local conveyance with driver, etc by company. Housing not included. Indicative package mentioned by Headhunter was USD 80,000 - 90,000 per year before personal income tax, Well !!! this is for an engineering organisation. You need to keep in mind the tax issue to arrive at net which I understand is around 26% (please confirm) after all possible deductions. I also understand that the company may be amenable to consider school fees of one child as additional at actual (USD 15,000 - 20,000 per year in a good school).

Trust this is of some assistance.

andidips wrote:

RCP79 wrote:

Hi all,

I've been through several rounds of interviews for an expat job in HCMC.
(experienced / management level)

Today, afer round 3 the HR director is asking me to share them my salary expectations.
So I've been Googling for some latest salary guides.
But since this is quite new to me I was wondering: is this the normal way of working?
Does anyone have experience with how these negotiations usually work?
(I'm used to companies giving you the first offer)

And are there any specific benefits/requirements I need to keep in mind while negotiating a package?

Currently I gathered this much:
- Healthcare will be included
- I'll have to arrange my own housing.
- Flights / visa will be arranged by the company.

I have been in discussions with a MNC also having their operations in HCMC. Have had two rounds of discussions (in the last 5 months), still inconclusive and the salary negotiation part is yet to start.

20-25 years of experience, management level, TRC for full family, healthcare for full family, 2 round trips for full family in a year, local conveyance with driver, etc by company. Housing not included. Indicative package mentioned by Headhunter was USD 80,000 - 90,000 per year before personal income tax, Well !!! this is for an engineering organisation. You need to keep in mind the tax issue to arrive at net which I understand is around 26% (please confirm) after all possible deductions. I also understand that the company may be amenable to consider school fees of one child as additional at actual (USD 15,000 - 20,000 per year in a good school).

Trust this is of some assistance.

If you are still waiting after 5 months I seriously doubt it will amount to much more than discussions  whoever the head hunter is they are probably stringing you along

Recruit here is brutal..

RCP79 wrote:

Thanks for the information, but I'm not in Vietnam yet, I'm still in Europe.
All my interviews we're online.
I've done business trips to VN before though.

I wouldn't get your hopes up.. video interviews are ok but most serious companies prefer to hire people who are already here and even then you'd have to be at the top of your field

Jlgarbutt wrote:

andidips wrote:

RCP79 wrote:

Hi all,

I've been through several rounds of interviews for an expat job in HCMC.
(experienced / management level)

Today, afer round 3 the HR director is asking me to share them my salary expectations.
So I've been Googling for some latest salary guides.
But since this is quite new to me I was wondering: is this the normal way of working?
Does anyone have experience with how these negotiations usually work?
(I'm used to companies giving you the first offer)

And are there any specific benefits/requirements I need to keep in mind while negotiating a package?

Currently I gathered this much:
- Healthcare will be included
- I'll have to arrange my own housing.
- Flights / visa will be arranged by the company.

I have been in discussions with a MNC also having their operations in HCMC. Have had two rounds of discussions (in the last 5 months), still inconclusive and the salary negotiation part is yet to start.

20-25 years of experience, management level, TRC for full family, healthcare for full family, 2 round trips for full family in a year, local conveyance with driver, etc by company. Housing not included. Indicative package mentioned by Headhunter was USD 80,000 - 90,000 per year before personal income tax, Well !!! this is for an engineering organisation. You need to keep in mind the tax issue to arrive at net which I understand is around 26% (please confirm) after all possible deductions. I also understand that the company may be amenable to consider school fees of one child as additional at actual (USD 15,000 - 20,000 per year in a good school).

Trust this is of some assistance.

If you are still waiting after 5 months I seriously doubt it will amount to much more than discussions  whoever the head hunter is they are probably stringing you along

Recruit here is brutal..

Last discussions with the employer (not head hunter) was as recent as the last week of April. The opportunity is not moving forward because this is a BD position requiring moving around in SEA.

What I was trying to communicate to the OP through my post was, good engineering companies who have their operations in VN, pay around USD 100,000 per year as salaries plus other benefits as indicated.

RCP79 wrote:

Since salary and holidays aren't bad, but quite far from what I indicated as expected:
Is it common/acceptable to give a counter offer in Vietnam?

If it is a management level position as you indicated and they already gave you an offer, you have some leverage. I would think they would expect you to counter to demonstrate your negotiation skills or lack thereof. If you are willing to accept the current offer, then I would recommend countering. If they say “we can’t do that,” then you can always back track to the original offer. Or they might meet you in the middle. You won’t know until you ask! Did they offer you housing or housing allowance?

RCP79 wrote:

200k!? That sounds like really alot, where can I sign
I thought 90k was a reasonable salary for an expat in VN.

Not if you have to pay rent, travel,health care and othercosts.

If you're happy with 90k, take it. You can live very well on 90k.

RCP79 wrote:

Thanks! I'll check it out. I didn't know about this PWC book.
With the latest proposal (now raised to 95k, and judging by the tone of the mail it sounds like I reached the end of the bandwith) the company provided me a Gross income / Net take home overview which I found quite handy.
There are quite some deductions on it, but looking at the gross and net figure, tax seems to be 20%.

Tax

RCP79 wrote:

With the latest proposal (now raised to 95k, and judging by the tone of the mail it sounds like I reached the end of the bandwith) the company provided me a Gross income / Net take home overview which I found quite handy.

Don’t over think yourself out of a deal. Making 90k usd in Vietnam is in the 1% of salaried jobs. Maybe you could have negotiate a better deal that included housing. Any foreigner I know that makes around that range has housing included. But if you really want to be in Vietnam, maybe bite the bullet and accept the offer to get your visa started. Which is no guarantee at this moment as HCMC has ban international flights arrival due to the recent Covid wave. If this company is willing to pay you that much, the competitor will surely match it, maybe with housing. Get into Vietnam first, that seems to be the biggest obstacle.

CoderX10 wrote:

RCP79 wrote:

With the latest proposal (now raised to 95k, and judging by the tone of the mail it sounds like I reached the end of the bandwith) the company provided me a Gross income / Net take home overview which I found quite handy.

Don’t over think yourself out of a deal. Making 90k usd in Vietnam is in the 1% of salaried jobs. Maybe you could have negotiate a better deal that included housing. Any foreigner I know that makes around that range has housing included. But if you really want to be in Vietnam, maybe bite the bullet and accept the offer to get your visa started. Which is no guarantee at this moment as HCMC has ban international flights arrival due to the recent Covid wave. If this company is willing to pay you that much, the competitor will surely match it, maybe with housing. Get into Vietnam first, that seems to be the biggest obstacle.

Thing is ..........the term/description manager or upper management is wide open...................expat manager of a small manufacturing company here might command a salary of 95k usd without extras. Ex pat manager of an oil rig working out of Vung Tau or based in HCMC will have a salary of at least 3 + times that complete with all the perc's cos thats what the job pays world wide. So the thing is ask yourself what would the job salary be back in your home country & 95k usd might be the going rate.
As said on this post 95k usd is a good salary on average here & you certainly wont go hungry even when paying tax, house, schooling, cost of living etc etc

gabbystares0y wrote:

I should have replied here. Which company pays USD 200k in Vietnam?

Management positions in large multi-national companies.