With its stable economic growth rate forecasted by the IMF, Vietnam is currently the 4th largest economy in Southeast Asia behind Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and surpassing Singapore, Malaysia. Vietnam’s plentiful resources and economic potentials make the country an attractive destination for foreign investors, companies to set up their businesses. That explains an increasing number of expats coming to Vietnam to live, work, and enjoy their lives. Especially, Ho Chi Minh City is the 3rd best city for expats in 2020 according to a survey conducted by Expat City Ranking. Despite being a land of great opportunities, a certain level of cultural understanding regarding workplace etiquette is still required in order for foreigners to fit in and become a part of a typical Vietnamese organization. This article will point out the most common but peculiar work etiquettes to help expats avoid some culture hiccups and ensure your professional success.
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Foreign expats need to learn about Vietnam workplace etiquette
Greetings in Vietnam
Living in an Asian country that sticks to the Confucian tradition, Vietnamese people put a lot of emphasis on greeting rituals. Handshakes or a slight bow of the head are both common forms of welcoming and saying goodbye depending on the relationship dynamics, but always make sure to greet the oldest person first.
Additionally, although English is becoming a popular language for daily communication in working environments, it would still be greatly appreciated by Vietnamese people if a foreigner shows their efforts to learn simple Vietnamese phrases such as xin chào (meaning hello) or cảm ơn (meaning thank you).
Greetings is a must-have culture
Business Attire
Business attire can vary depending on the location and nature of your workplace etiquette. For the two most popular destinations for expats in Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the former one tends to be more formal with dress codes due to its white-collar environment, while companies in Ho Chi Minh City often have more casual business attire.
Besides, as an emerging startup hub, comfort and personal identity, even at work, are increasingly being valued in Vietnam. For that reason, it is getting easier to see young employees going to work in as informal outfit as t-shirts and jeans in Vietnam.
Workplace etiquette is demonstrated in meetings
As in most business cultures in other parts of the world, punctuality is expected for meetings in Vietnam. Face-to-face meetings are crucial and much preferred for the business process. Due to Covid-19, zoom meetings and other forms of video calls are becoming more familiar but still not that favored.
It is good to note that meetings easily run over in Vietnam, so make sure to take this into account when scheduling your workdays.
Seniority and Hierarchy
No matter how vibrant and fast-developing the country is becoming, a typical Vietnamese business organization is still pretty much hierarchical. Top-down management is widely applied and older members need to be shown more respect in decision making processes. Workplace etiquette refers to proper behavior in the workplace, for making the environment where people work a polite, respectful, pleasant place to be.
Seniority and Hierarchy is “super” important at workplace, especially traditional ones
It is crucial that senior individuals, whether defined by job, position or age within an organization, should be put in higher regard. People are becoming more open to ideas and opinions, but always try to express them in a polite and mild-mannered way.
For the opportunities and cultural beauties that it offers, Vietnam owns workplace etiquette for those who are looking to gain new experiences and further develop their career. Among all the gazillion jobs on the market, which one is the best fit for you? This is how JobHopin stands out as the top recruitment platform for both recruiters and job seekers in Vietnam. Our AI technology helps sort, filters and matches candidates with the right recruiters and vice versa. We ease recruiters and candidates’ concerns about unsuitable opportunities and optimizes the entire recruitment process to be less time-consuming and more cost-saving.
JobHopin Team