Expectation of low income in expensive urban areas
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, born in 2002, graduated from university with a marketing degree in June 2024. Since then, Mr. Quoc Anh's journey to find a job and stay in the city has been arduous, bumpy and shows no signs of improvement.
According to Mr. Quoc Anh, realizing the difficulties when entering the labor market, he actively worked part-time from his 2nd year of university with the desire to have more income and accumulate practical experience.
Holding a bachelor's degree, Mr. Quoc Anh both tried to maintain a part-time job from his student days and found a "formal" job opportunity. He spread out his CV, attended dozens of job interviews but all received a shake of the head from recruiters.
Right after the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday, Mr. Quoc Anh continued to submit a job application. Based on the "criticism" of the recruiter, he also sought a more specialized job for the major he studied, instead of chasing after a "clumsy, superficial" job as he himself admitted. Currently, Mr. Quoc Anh has submitted a job application with a desired starting income of 7 million VND/month. "I accept this income level to learn in the true sense" - Mr. Quoc Anh shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai - who just lost her job in November 2025 - is also submitting a CV at the Hanoi Employment Service Center with a desired income of "from 5-10 million VND". According to Ms. Mai, this salary scale will make it easier to find job opportunities, because she herself recognizes that her bachelor's degree in accounting and 3 years of work experience are "not very valuable" in the current labor market. "I need a job to cover my minimum living standard, not to dream like before" - Ms. Mai said.
Labor level determines "ceiling" income
The survey results of 3,429 job seekers collected by the Hanoi Employment Service Center show that up to 63.4% of workers expect a salary of 5-10 million VND/month; 20% expect from 10-20 million VND; only 2% expect an income of over 20 million VND/month. This structure shows that the level of income desire of job seekers is still mainly concentrated in the low - medium salary group.
Survey data also shows that the group of job seekers mainly focuses on the age group of 35-45, accounting for 55.9%. The group of 25-34 years old accounts for 37.3%, while young workers from 15-24 years old only account for 4.7%. This structure reflects a reality: The job seeker force is mainly married workers, under livelihood pressure, prioritizing stability over risky job seeking with high income but risk.
For this age group, income expectations are often "pragmatic": Having a job immediately, having a regular salary, accepting a medium income to maintain life. This is also a group that easily accepts a salary of 5-10 million VND, as long as the job is not too precarious. According to surveys, the group without training still accounts for a large proportion of job seekers, accounting for 43.2% (although it has decreased by 8.8% compared to December 2025)", Mr. Vu Quang Thanh - Deputy Director of Hanoi Employment Service Center said.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong - former Director of the Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs - said that not only workers actively look for low-wage jobs, but even businesses are also "pinning" the salary level at an average level, making it difficult to create a breakthrough in income if it is not a specific, scarce position.
Ms. Lan Huong said that many businesses still consider salaries as costs to be controlled instead of investment in productivity. Simultaneous salary increases can attract short-term labor but pose risks if revenue does not increase correspondingly, so the salary level is usually kept at a "safe" level, only slightly adjusted according to position and season. Even when requiring higher qualifications, the offered salary level still does not increase correspondingly, causing many workers to accept low incomes or work in the wrong profession to compensate.
Also according to Ms. Lan Huong, salaries above 15-20 million VND/month are only concentrated in a very narrow number of groups.
