The time of 'job hopping for a higher salary' is over.

Hoang Nam, a 31-year-old IT engineer in Hanoi, always considered "job-hopping" as a way to increase his income, but for more than a year, he has not found a place to "jump".

Nam realized that the labor market had changed. The IT industry was saturated, and few companies were willing to pay the expected salary. Therefore, even though the current project was not in the right career direction, the working environment was only average, and the benefits were far worse than before, Nam still tried to stay.

"Job-hopping is no longer a ticket to a pay rise," he admitted.

Thu Dung in Ho Chi Minh City also realized that the salary level has decreased significantly compared to before.

The 32-year-old woman has worked for 6 years as a sales assistant for a logistics company in Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province with a salary of over 30 million VND. After more than 1 year of quitting her job due to family circumstances, Dung intended to return to her old job, but the salary offered by the company was only 2/3 of what it was before.

TOP CV's Recruitment Market Report at the end of 2024 shows that changing jobs is no longer proportional to the opportunity to increase income. More than 26% of workers accept to keep the same income when changing jobs. The rate of income increase is insignificant, they even accept to reduce total benefits to find a new job.

In the 2025 Salary and Labor Market Report by Navigos and Vietnamwork, a similar situation was recorded, with more than 13% accepting a reduction in income, of which nearly 4% had a 20% reduction in income when taking a new job.

"Times are changing in the labor market," said Nguyen Huyen Hao, director of a mid- and high-level recruitment company in Hanoi. "Employees have lost their bargaining power and are becoming more cautious when changing jobs. Employers are not willing to pay any price."

According to experts, the group whose salary is reduced when changing jobs is mainly in the office sector, accounting, human resources, customer service - fields that are easily affected by the economy and technology, especially AI. Even in the IT industry, the survey shows that salaries tend to decrease for groups with less than 5 years of experience. If last year, the average salary of a new graduate was 15 million VND, now it is only 11 million VND.

Ms. Hao has seen many technology personnel, from team leaders to employees, accept salaries that are two-thirds of what they used to. When supply is greater than demand, the labor market is witnessing another wave. "Some companies are quietly looking for replacements for existing positions with lower salaries, aiming to purge personnel and optimize costs," she said.

The cause of this situation is the economic downturn, many companies are dissolved or are "standing still" due to the instability of the world political situation.

The domestic labor market is also undergoing major changes with a wave of layoffs from many technology, securities, banking, and media companies. The ongoing streamlining of the apparatus is also contributing to bringing a significant number of employees into the labor market.

"The supply of candidates in the market is relatively large, leading to great competition for ideal job positions. In addition, the saturation of job opportunities in some technology fields, or economic pressure will also make companies more cautious in allocating salary budgets," TOP CV's report pointed out.

However, the labor market is not entirely bleak. Some sectors still recorded clear growth, especially the manufacturing sector when the demand for human resources from the investment wave is very large. Factories are continuously recruiting general workers to technical, engineering, middle and high-level management. The marketing industry is also witnessing many new opportunities thanks to the shift from offline to online consumption.

For workers like Thu Dung, the current job market remains challenging. This week, she has an interview for a job in her field, close to home, but the salary is only 18 million VND. Her husband supports her because he wants to spend more time with the family, but she still has concerns when comparing it with her previous salary.

Now that her children are grown, she is ready to return to work full-time, but understands that the market has changed. "To have a better chance, perhaps experience alone is not enough," she said.

Working in the content creation industry, where the rate of elimination is extremely high, Quang Minh, 28 years old, spent half a year struggling to find a job when he became unemployed last year. "Part of the reason is that many of the skills I have are outdated," the young man admitted.

Not accepting a low-paying job for fear of affecting his future "personal positioning", Minh spent 3 months upgrading his skills in applying AI to content and video production and improving his foreign language skills. During this time, he freelanced to make ends meet and expand his relationships.

At the end of the year, Minh "returned to the race" with a new set of skills. More confident in interviews, he found a job with a 20% salary increase. Looking back, Quang Minh said that unemployment is not scary, but being behind the general market is a huge danger. "I realized that in a competitive market, no one will pay a high price for an old version," he said.

This is also what human resource recruitment expert Nguyen Huyen Hao advises. Instead of constantly switching, employees can choose to stick with their jobs, even if the salary is not too high. Once they prove their ability and gain trust, they will have the opportunity to advance faster in both position and income. In the long run, this is also an investment in career stability and sustainability.

"Job-hopping may no longer be a ticket to a salary increase, but the ability to adapt and upgrade yourself is always the golden key to open the door to opportunity," Ms. Hao concluded.