Asia’s Talent Takedown: How Samsung is Winning the War for Top Talent in Vietnam

In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the war for talent is intensifying. In addition to high economic growth rates, against the background of the conflict between China and the United States, Southeast Asia has attracted the attention of global companies as a destination for rebuilding supply chains. In order to expand their business, companies launch offensive to grab people with preferential treatment. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Chinese version: Nikkei Chinese Network) tracks the frontline of talent recruitment and retention.

In the northwest of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, an area is being developed on a large scale. As South Korean capital pours in, the names of South Korean companies stand out on the fences around construction sites.

Samsung Electronics opened a research and development (R&D) center in this field in 2022. It cooperates with centers in 12 countries around the world and has about 2,500 artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics researchers working here. What stands out are the young men wearing jeans and T-shirts. The talks of young talents gathered from all over the country were mixed with dialects from all over Vietnam.

“You can dress freely and have free working hours, so I joined this company.” Thun (pseudonym) studied information engineering at Hanoi National University, Vietnam’s top university, and entered the Research and Development center after graduation. Although the monthly income of 14 million VND (about RMB 4,000) is not high, he likes such a passionate workplace where he can focus on research.

“Because we are an international company, we have many opportunities to be exposed to the world’s leading technologies. We can accumulate practical experience in professional fields and have a clear career path.” Bu Toan Tan (transliteration), a professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering at Hanoi University of Technology, the most difficult science and engineering university in Vietnam, known as the “Vietnam MIT”, said this about Samsung.

Competition for talents about to graduate

Samsung is said to recruit 300 to 400 graduates from the university each year and is keen to compete for talent about to graduate. A discounted master’s program was opened at a university to learn semiconductor expertise and the Korean language After graduation, we can work at Samsung immediately.

Vietnamese feelings towards South Korea were once soured by the Vietnam War, but have gradually faded due to the government’s policy of prioritizing economic development and the rapid increase in business investment and immigration in South Korea in the 2010s. Nowadays, the parents’ generation doesn’t even have the memory of the war anymore South Korea’s recent craze has made parents and children like K-POP and South Korean food.

Data from the ASEAN Secretariat show that direct investment in the region increased by 0.3% in 2023 from the previous year, reaching US $ 229.8 billion, setting a record and being very active. While multinational companies in South Korea, Taiwan, and China are absorbing large amounts of human resources, they are also setting their sights on outstanding talents in Southeast Asia. Although Southeast Asia has a strong image as a “production zone” rich in cheap labor, more and more young people are receiving professional education at universities and other institutions and becoming fluent in English. They attract talented people with high salaries and a good working environment and develop them into future growth engines.

Intel from the United States, ARM from the United Kingdom, Infineon Technologies from Germany… Big companies from different countries have entered Malaysia, and the semiconductor industry is increasingly centralized. Taiwanese semiconductor designer Phison Electronics (IC) announced in April that it would establish an integrated circuit (IC) chip design company in Malaysia.

Pan Jiancheng, chairman of Phison Electronics, said: “We will recruit local fresh graduates and train them as technical personnel.” He believes it is more efficient to develop young talent from scratch, so he actively promotes recruitment efforts. In the future, we plan to expand the number of employees in Malaysia to 300 to 500 people.

Japan’s advantage is collapsing

Local companies in ASEAN also attract excellent talent with preferential treatment.

In Indonesia, there are increasing cases of people switching jobs from foreign-invested companies in Europe and the United States, which offer higher salaries, to state-owned companies such as Pertamina and Bank Mandiri. Management staff such as department heads receive more generous packages and even get houses and cars.

In Southeast Asia, salaries tend to increase significantly when moving into management positions. Data from Mercer Japan, a major personnel consulting firm, shows that the annual income of a ministerial position (as of October 2023) is about 18.9 million yen in Japan. Although the definition varies from country to country, it is lower than about 24.1 million Vietnamese yen.

“Overseas, there is a high turnover of talented people who can hold management positions,” said Miwako Ito, director of Mercer Japan. If they cannot attract excellent employees, the competitiveness and local presence of Japanese companies may decline.

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