Samsung smartphone manufacturing plant in northern Bac Ninh Province. Smart phone manufacturing is among the industries with the "hottest" recruitment demands, a report by a recruiting agency reveals. — VNA/VNS Photo Duc Tam

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The highest monthly salary for mid-level and senior managers in Viet Nam was VND225 million (US$10,000), up by 11% in 2015 in comparison with the previous year, according to a report by Navigos Search, aVietnamese recruitment agency.

The report on the recruitment demands for mid-level and senior managers in Viet Nam in the fourth quarter of 2015 was published on Wednesday.

In Ha Noi, banking and finance ranks first among the top 10 industries with the highest salaries in 2015. Salaries of mid-level and senior managers in this industry range from VND100 to VND200 million ($4,450 to $8,900) per month. The banking is followed by manufacturing and real estate.

Meanwhile, in HCM City, health care ranks first among the top 10 industries with the highest salaries for mid-level and senior managers. It is followed by FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), retail, banking and finance. Salaries of these top 10 industries range from VND70 to VND225 million ($3,110 to $10,000) per month.

In 2015, recruitment demands through Navigos Search increased by 44% compared to 2014.

The most recruited positions include electricity engineer, electronics engineer, programming engineer, marketing and sales. Meanwhile, smart phone manufacturing, garment & textile, retail and FMCG are the industries with the "hottest" recruitment demands, according to the report.

Top 5 industries with the highest recruitment demands in the fourth quarter of 2015 belong to Manufacturing (22%); Retail and FMCG (14%); Garment & Textile (10%); Banking – Finance – Insurance (10%); and IT (7%).

However, experts at Navigos Research forecast that there would be movements in recruitment demand for mid-level and senior managers this year.

In 2016, the most notable will be the pharmaceutical industry, including both local and foreign pharmaceutical companies, according to the report.

The local pharmaceutical industry is growing very fast and mid-level managers of marketing and sales in this industry may be highly recruited in the year. For foreign pharmaceutical companies, M&A (mergers and acquisitions) of local pharmacy producers may continue to take place, resulting in high recruitment demands. Also, managerial positions such as sales manager, product manager and relevant technical positions are highly recruited ones, said the report.

Telecommunications will also be anticipated to have a pretty high recruitment demand when the 4G technology is officially launched in early 2016. The 4G technology vendors have been well prepared to recruit more personnel for their projects.

Consumer finance will be likely to have a high recruitment demand this year when many banks have planned to acquire finance companies to boost consumer loans.

In the commercial IT industry, foreign companies operating in Viet Nam tend to recruit experienced overseas Vietnamese graduates from neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

In the North, some factories are relocated in other localities other than in popular industrial parks in neighbouring provinces of Ha Noi. This means it is more difficult to find mid-level and senior managers.

For the retail industry, the trend of opening convenient stores will be superior to big supermarkets; therefore, there will be more recruitment opportunities for fresh graduates. Candidates for managerial positions in the FMCG will continue to be highly sought because of the shortage of personnel in this industry. — VNS