Income of 13-15 million VND/month only when adding overtime and many allowances
At the recruitment notice board near Thang Long Industrial Park (Hanoi), there are full notices looking for workers. The common point of many businesses is that they all introduce attractive income levels from 9-15 million VND/month. However, when reading the recruitment information carefully, this income level is formed from basic salary, a series of allowances and overtime pay.
At Meiko Thang Long Electronics Co., Ltd., the company recruits 50 production workers with the information "total income may reach 13 million VND/month". However, the basic salary offered is 6,264,000 VND/month. The rest comes from travel allowances, living allowances, job evaluation bonuses, attendance bonuses, child support allowances, seniority allowances and overtime pay.
In another recruitment notice of Meiko Thang Long Electronics Co., Ltd., the company offered an income level of 14-15 million VND/month, of which the basic salary is 6,864,000 VND, plus allowances from 1-2 million VND. The notice also clearly states that employees work in two shifts, the actual working time is about 10 hours and 10 minutes but are paid 12 hours, meaning high income only exists when employees maintain regular overtime work.
Similarly, Asahi Intecc Hanoi Co., Ltd. recruits female workers with incomes from 9-13 million VND/month, while the basic salary is 6,260,000 VND. The enterprise also applies many allowances and bonuses and requires employees to work in shifts, with night shifts.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Byokane Vietnam Co., Ltd. recruits male workers with a basic salary of 5,600,000 VND/month, plus many allowances such as travel, attendance, housing, environment, chemicals, living expenses, seniority... to increase total actual income.
The above figures show that the income of over 10 million VND that many businesses announce does not entirely come from contract salaries but depends significantly on allowances, bonuses and especially overtime.
Without overtime, workers have no savings
Having worked for 4 years at a business in Thang Long Industrial Park (Hanoi), Ms. Ha Thi Huyen (born in 2002, from Nghe An) shared that her current basic salary is about 5.8 million VND/month. If she works full days overtime in the month, plus allowances and overtime money, her income reaches about 15-16 million VND. However, in months without overtime, the amount she receives is about 8 million VND per month.
Rent is more than 1 million VND, electricity and water are about 500,000 VND, food is about 4 million VND, not to mention sending money home to parents and tuition fees for children. Without overtime, there is almost no savings left," Ms. Huyen said.
According to the female worker, overtime helps improve income but also means that time spent with family and rest is reduced. In peak periods, she works almost full week, just hoping to have a few million VND more to cover living expenses.
This reality also reflects the survey results of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor conducted in March and April 2026 at 196 businesses in 7 provinces and cities with nearly 2,000 workers participating.
Only 54.3% of workers said that their current salaries are just enough to meet basic family expenses, slightly down from 54.9% in 2025; 17.2% have to be thrifty, spending lavishly (26.3% in 2025); 20.6% are not enough to live on, have to work overtime (7.9% in 2025)...
Therefore, for many workers today, overtime is no longer simply an option to increase income but has become an almost mandatory condition to maintain life. This is also one of the bases for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor to propose increasing the minimum wage from the beginning of 2027, in order to help workers' basic wages gradually better meet the minimum living needs of workers and their families.
