A survey by Manpower Company shows that net recruitment (measuring the difference between the total number of new employees recruited and the number of employees quitting (voluntary or fired) in a certain period of time) in Q2/2026 in Vietnam reached +47%. This result far exceeds the global average (31%) and the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region - APME (38%).
Manpower's latest recruitment trend survey was conducted from January 1 - March 2, 2026, collecting opinions from more than 41,700 businesses in 42 countries and territories. In Vietnam, out of 260 surveyed businesses, 63% expect to increase recruitment in the second quarter, 21% plan to maintain the current personnel scale and 16% forecast to reduce recruitment.
According to Manpower Company, recruitment expectations in Vietnam currently show a two-way picture: businesses both pursue business expansion goals and promote improving operational efficiency. Therefore, many new positions are being recruited to meet growth needs, while in some other organizations, the labor force restructuring process is taking place because technology is increasingly playing an important role in optimizing operations.
Regarding the general trend, the job market in the coming months will still be very positive with 52% of businesses in Vietnam saying that scale expansion is the main reason for their recruitment increase, reflecting the general trend globally when business growth continues to be the main driving force promoting human resource demand. This factor is particularly clear in businesses in the Northern region (61%), showing that great recruitment pressure comes from growth in this market.
The main reason for the recruitment reduction plan is streamlining the apparatus to improve processes (56%) and strengthening automation applications to reduce demand for some positions (44%). This trend is most evident in large-scale enterprises (over 1,000 employees), where personnel changes are often associated with a comprehensive restructuring strategy rather than short-term fluctuations.
