Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s hiring outlook is set to strengthen significantly in the fourth quarter of 2026, with 52% of surveyed businesses expecting to increase their workforce, up 8 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.
Conducted from July 1 to July 31, the survey collected responses from nearly 40,000 businesses across 42 countries and territories. In Vietnam, among 285 businesses surveyed, 52% expected to increase hiring in Q4, 16% planned to reduce hiring, while 32% intended to maintain their current workforce levels.
Vietnam’s Net Employment Outlook (NEO) is forecast to reach 36% in the last quarter of 2026. Business expansion continues to be the main driver of hiring demand, while automation is among the key reasons behind plans to reduce recruitment.
The information sector leads hiring demand, with an NEO of 64%. The strongest hiring demand is recorded in northern Vietnam and among businesses employing between 50 and 249 people.
Notably, the NEO is higher than the averages for both the Asia-Pacific and Middle East (APME) region and the global market, where NEOs stand at 33% and 29%, respectively. Vietnam ranks third in the APME region and 11th among the 42 markets surveyed worldwide.
Survey findings show that among those planning to increase hiring, 52% cited business expansion as the main factor driving recruitment demand. This proportion was virtually unchanged from Q3 and remained the leading hiring driver, indicating businesses’ confidence in the final months of the year.
Among companies planning to reduce hiring, lower demand for certain positions as a result of automation was the most frequently cited reason. As many as 52% of those in this group gave this reason, more than twice the APME average of 24% and the global average of 22%.Talent shortages continue to be a major barrier to recruitment. Around half of businesses said the main reason hiring processes were taking longer was a shortage of candidates – including an insufficient number of people with the required skills applying for positions, as well as a limited pool of qualified candidates available in the labour market.
Another challenge is the gap between candidates’ expectations and job requirements, cited by 43% of businesses. In addition, the growing number of CVs generated using AI is making candidate screening increasingly difficult.
Businesses in Vietnam are also increasing their recruitment of early-career workers compared with 2025, particularly for positions in engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), information technology and data./.
