Lundi's growth market in Southeast Asia — Ho Chi Minh City for engineering, Hanoi for design and product, Da Nang for technical operations. Built for US, European, and Australian companies seeking engineering depth at 30–40% below Philippine or Polish cost.
Vietnam has become Asia's most credible engineering alternative to India and the Philippines — Samsung, Intel, FPT, KMS Technology, and NashTech have built deep technical operations here over 15+ years. Strong fit for companies needing senior engineering and technical operations at meaningfully lower cost than the Philippines or Poland. Employer costs run roughly 17–22% above gross. English proficiency in tech sector is improving rapidly but lower than the Philippines on average — calibrate role requirements accordingly. For companies building teams of 10+, not individual hires.
Vietnam offers the deepest engineering talent in Southeast Asia outside Singapore at materially lower cost than the Philippines, Malaysia, or Poland. The country has been building offshore software development capability since the early 2000s — FPT Software, KMS Technology, NashTech (formerly Harvey Nash), and TMA Solutions operate at multi-thousand-engineer scale serving US and European clients. The labour pool is real and growing.
Three operating hubs, different specializations.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is Vietnam's engineering and commercial capital. District 1, District 2 (Thao Dien), and District 7 (Phu My Hung) concentrate international tech employers. Senior backend, mobile, and platform engineering talent depth is strongest here. The Vietnamese tech ecosystem maturity is comparable to Bangalore a decade ago — and growing fast.
Hanoi is the political and design-product capital. Strong fit for product design, UX research, design system roles, and product management talent. FPT University and the Hanoi University of Science and Technology produce strong engineering and design graduates. Senior product talent depth is improving but smaller than HCMC.
Da Nang is the emerging technical operations hub. Lower cost than HCMC or Hanoi (typically 20–30% below), increasingly attractive for technical operations, customer success engineering, and roles where lifestyle is a retention factor.
Operating context. Vietnam is on ICT (UTC+7), 12 hours ahead of US East Coast in summer, 1 hour behind Singapore. English proficiency in Vietnamese tech sector is improving rapidly — senior engineers at FPT, KMS, NashTech, Axon Active are typically business-fluent; mid-level varies. Customer-facing roles require careful screening. Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) is the working language for non-international teams. Vietnam vs Philippines: Vietnam wins on engineering depth and lower senior compensation; Philippines wins on English fluency, customer-facing role suitability, and BPO ecosystem maturity. Vietnam vs India: Vietnam offers similar engineering quality at lower senior cost and significantly lower attrition; India wins on scale, English, and broader function depth.
Employer cost reality. Employer contributions run roughly 17.5% on gross (capped at certain salary thresholds): social insurance (pension, sickness, maternity, accident, unemployment combined). 13th month not legally required but customary in many companies — Lundi advises this be paid to remain competitive. PIT progressive 5–35%. All-in employer cost typically lands ~22–25% above gross. Mid-level engineers run $1,800–$3,500/month all-in; senior engineers and team leads run $3,500–$6,500/month — significantly below the Philippines or Poland for comparable seniority.
Vietnamese employment is governed by the 2019 Labor Code — workable for international employers but with specific rigidities around termination, probation, and labour permits.
EOR works well up to 15–25 headcount. Lundi's Vietnamese employment infrastructure handles compliant employment from first hire onward. Social insurance registration, labour book (sổ lao động), statutory holidays (typically 11 days), paid leave (12–16 days depending on tenure), maternity leave (6 months — one of the longest in Asia), sick leave — all handled administratively.
FDI entity setup is more complex than most Asian markets. Establishing a Vietnamese FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) entity — either a 100% foreign-owned LLC or joint stock company — requires investment registration certificate (IRC), enterprise registration certificate (ERC), and substantial documentation. Typical setup is 3–6 months. Lundi's Build-Operate-Transfer pathway typically runs 12–24 months under our entity before transition, which gives time to validate the operating model and structure the entity correctly at transfer.
Tax incentives for software and IT services. Vietnam offers significant CIT (corporate income tax) incentives for qualifying software development and IT services activities: 10% rate for 15 years (versus the 20% standard rate), with the first 4 years tax-free. Companies engaged in software production for export can qualify. R&D activities qualify for additional deductions. These structures meaningfully improve unit economics at scale.
Labour permit considerations for non-Vietnamese hires. Vietnam's labour code restricts foreign workers — most non-Vietnamese hires require work permits, which require specific job categories and Vietnamese language requirements in some cases. For talent corridor strategies, additional administrative complexity exists. Lundi handles work permit logistics where applicable.
Why HRBP infrastructure matters. Vietnamese termination requires either material breach (with documented evidence) or contractual end-of-term. Probation is limited (60 days for most roles, up to 180 days for managerial positions). Performance management is more culturally indirect than Western norms — direct critical feedback can be counterproductive. Every Lundi Vietnam team includes a named HRBP from day one — culturally fluent, structuring performance conversations appropriately for Vietnamese workplace norms.
What it costs to employ someone through Lundi.
Lundi's cost is the all-in cost of the employee — gross salary plus statutory employer contributions plus customary benefits — and a Lundi management fee on top. The management fee depends on team size and scope: smaller teams pay a higher per-head rate, teams of 20+ get materially better unit economics, and Build–Operate–Transfer engagements are structured separately.
The alternative paths look like: setting up your own local entity (meaningful months of legal and accounting work, plus ongoing in-country HR, payroll, and compliance infrastructure), engaging a local recruitment agency on contingency (typically a percentage of first-year compensation, paid once, with no ongoing employment relationship), or hiring as a contractor (lower upfront cost, real misclassification risk in most jurisdictions). Lundi is faster than entity setup, structurally different from contingency recruitment, and lower-risk than contractor arrangements.
Talk to us for specific pricing.
The notice period is three working days for seasonal contracts (contracts lasting less than one year), 30 days for fixed-term labour contracts, and 45 days for indefinite-term labour contracts.
Typical Vietnam teams Lundi builds and operates:
Engineering Team — Ho Chi Minh City (10 to 40 people). Backend, full-stack, mobile, data engineering, DevOps. Strong technical depth. Mid-level engineers $2,000–$3,800/month all-in; senior engineers and team leads $3,800–$6,500/month — typically 30–40% below Polish or Philippine compensation for comparable seniority.
Technical Operations — Da Nang or HCMC (8 to 25 people). Platform engineering, infrastructure, internal tools, customer success engineering. Da Nang particularly cost-effective. Mid-level operators $1,800–$3,200/month all-in.
Design & Product — Hanoi or HCMC (5 to 15 people). Product design, UX research, design system roles, product management. Strong fit for product-led companies prioritising design depth at lower cost than Singapore, Hong Kong, or Bangkok.
Sales & Business Development — HCMC (5 to 15 people). B2B SDRs and AEs for Asian markets. English-language sales depth still developing — most appropriate for technical or product-led sales where English-fluent senior reps can be sourced specifically. Mid-level reps $1,500–$2,800/month base plus variable.
Finance & Operations Support — HCMC (5 to 20 people). AP/AR, expense management, basic accounting, operational support. Mid-level operators $1,200–$2,500/month all-in. Lower English than Philippines for the same role tier.
Five things distinguish Lundi from an EOR platform operating in Vietnam:
1. Local recruiters who know the Vietnamese tech employer landscape. Lundi recruiters in HCMC know the FPT Software, KMS Technology, NashTech, Axon Active, and TMA Solutions networks — which senior engineers are 24 months in and looking for international work, which teams at the major Vietnamese tech employers are losing talent. The pipeline stays warm — turnover predicted, not reacted to.
2. Dedicated Vietnamese entity, not a shared employment pool. Lundi employs through its own Vietnamese entity. Where appropriate, we structure the entity for software-IT CIT incentive qualification (10% rate, first 4 years exempt) — a significant economic improvement at scale. Build-Operate-Transfer pathway includes entity structuring guidance.
3. An embedded HRBP, not a support ticket. Vietnamese workplace dynamics require culturally appropriate management — directness varies, performance feedback is often indirect, and termination processes are more procedural than Anglo-Saxon norms. Every Lundi Vietnam team has a named HRBP — culturally fluent in both directions, present in your Slack or Teams, running onboarding and performance management.
4. Hyperlocal operations. Lundi has physical presence in Vietnam. Workspace from HCMC District 1/2/7 coworking through to dedicated office space. Equipment procurement local. Health benefits through Vietnamese providers (Bao Viet, PJICO, AAA Insurance) — local standard. Day-to-day operational support, banking, and administrative complexity handled in-house.
5. Lundi is rooted in Vietnam, not flying in. Vietnam is one of Lundi's growth operational markets. The HCMC infrastructure has been built specifically for the next 5–10 years of growth — including a new entity and founding operations team — not deployed remotely from a global HQ.
Lundi works with companies building teams of 10 or more across business, technical, and operational functions . Not for one-off hires or individual placements.
EOR platforms employ individuals for you. Lundi recruits, employs, and operates concentrated teams — including day-to-day management, HR, and an optional path to your own entity. It's the operating model for companies that have outgrown the EOR ceiling.
