The demand for skilled workers is high in Vietnam due to rapid growth in the nation’s business sectors, and general economic growth in recent years. But there are many different job opportunities in Vietnam for skilled expats in a variety of fields outside the business realm too.

Education. The highest number of expats find jobs in Vietnam in the field education. As a non-English speaking country, Vietnam has overtime increased its focus on developing language skills to help students become competitive employees on a more global scale. Therefore, teaching English as a second Language, is the most common type of teaching job in Vietnam. However, international schools in Vietnam also recruit foreign nationals with certain specialized skills or alternative areas of specialty, such as computer, arts, music, science and mathematics, to fulfill teaching vacancies.

Business & Engineering. Many people in Vietnam are employed in manufacturing industries, like machine building, food processing, and garment and shoe production. Shoes and clothes are among the most common exports of Vietnam. With this, more and more international employees are needed in the business or engineering realm of these companies, especially in production, maintenance, finance, and managerial positions.

Agriculture. The majority of people in Vietnam work in the agriculture industry, at least in some sense. The main agricultural products of the country are rice, coffee, rubber, cotton, tea, pepper, and soy beans. The export of agricultural products is a growing industry in Vietnam, as nearby countries are gradually coming to depend on the nation’s agricultural products.

The business culture of Vietnam emphasize relationships and a strict hierarchical structure, so seniority within each company is well observed and respected. The general workplace etiquette is quite similar to other Asian countries, such as China, South Korea, and Japan. Overall, the Vietnamese people have a healthy work ethic; they are generally hardworking and punctuality is valued highly. Work typically starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. in Vietnam, and runs on a Monday through Friday schedule.

Since Vietnam is technically a non-English speaking country, foreign workers may have some difficulty in day to day activities in and outside of the workplace with no knowledge of the local language. Foreign workers should study the basics of the Vietnamese language either before or during any job in Vietnam, to be able to better understand and communicate effectively, especially within the working environment.