Headhunt is not new in Vietnam, however, it still seems a little bit strange for employers.

An attractive market

With a young labor source, diversified market and strategic position, Vietnam has always attracted the investment of large international corporations. As a consequence, the demand for senior staff is also increasing.

To meet this demand, there are many headhunting companies in Vietnam who look for managers and specialists in different fields for their customers. The headhunter can be compared to a machine to “wash sand for gold” and to search for excellent candidates.  Those who can meet the strict requirements of the market will be welcomed, their data will be restored and they will become “senior labor source” in the labor market.

Competition

This service actually has stronger competition than other fields. Many foreign recruiting companies have had their eyes on Vietnam’s market of senior staff and some of them have worked with some Vietnamese companies successfully. With their long history in the field on the international market, the foreign companies have many advantages of the international source of labor forces and standard customer support process. They also take advantage of their knowledge on the internal labor force division and human resource flow. They link these two demands in a smart way.

One more competitive element is the cost and service quality. In a revived economy, all companies make the top priority to cut costs. However, it is necessary to invest in the talent source. Vietnamese companies are having a stable position and taking more share of the market thanks to their competitive fee of 18 – 25% of the candidate’s annual salary and the equal quality. Meanwhile, in developed countries, the cost for one successful candidate is about 30% of the annual salary. When working in Vietnam market, a foreign company has to charge at least 25 % of the annual salary to have benefits.

Human resource quality

Vietnamese economy has developed with sustainability with young and skilled labor force. The talents are more welcomed than ever before by the market. The managers have to run and develop their businesses to a higher level, that’s why they have to recruit the right people for the right positions. The talents are more aware of their true values and they tend to move to a new company with better opportunities and pay. More qualified people now apply to head hunting companies. There are, however, several problems concerning the quality of the labor force. At my company, for example, the quality and quantity of senior candidates are quite low and cannot meet the domestic demands. There is also a shortage of labor force of the middle level. And the young graduates are just good at theory but weak at knowledge of the reality and profession. As a result, recruiting and training takes a long time. Having recruiting competent staff, companies should have trainings to improve their professional ability to serve their jobs.

Conclusion

All advantages and disadvantages considered, the Headhunting market in Vietnam is a promising one in the future. It can be seen that this service helps to improve the human resource quality and healthy competition on the market, promoting the economy and service quality.