The average gross salary increased 16.47 percent during the period from April 2008 to March 2009, according to the latest announcement from the Navigos Group, the leading recruitment solutions provider in Vietnam.

This is one of the final results of the Vietnam Salary Survey 2009 which was released on September 23 in Ho Chi Minh city.

The survey collected data from 163 companies across Vietnam, spanning more than 15 industries and covering 75 job categories.

Gross salaries have increased for most industries, the survey said, adding that leading the pack is the real estate and property development sector, ringing in at 23.25 percent.

Financial services, which had led the salary increases for the last two years, dropped down to second place with 21.78 percent.

However, Winnie Lam, Director of Human Resource Advisory Services of the Navigos Group said these figures may underestimate the real trend, as some industries have been slow to respond to the growth of the economy until recently, and thus will need to implement a more sizable increase to meet the surge of demand, even in a slow economy.

Contrary to last year’s survey, companies from the southern provinces included in the Vietnam Salary Survey 2009 reported the highest rise with over 20 percent, jumping ahead of both Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi.

Among the companies surveyed, 47 percent are wholly foreign-owned. Local companies made up merely 11.7 percent, a rather small percentage.

However, they did report a higher salary increase at 16.45 percent compared to 15.61 percent for the foreign-owned enterprises.

The Vietnam Salary Survey 2009 is expected to be announced to Navigos Group’s clients in Hanoi on September 25.

Since 2005, the survey has offered comprehensive and insightful information, which accurately reflects changing trends in salaries, benefits, allowances, and bonuses in the Vietnamese labour market./.