VNExpress-March 10
Vietnamese tech workers studying and working abroad are returning home in increasing numbers since they find the country offers more opportunities for career advancement than competitive developed markets. Quan Nguyen, 25, recently quit his job at OpenAI in the U.S. to return to Vietnam though he would possibly earn 10 times more in Silicon Valley. He says: “There is increasing investment in Southeast Asian tech industries. It feels easier to accomplish things in a Vietnamese startup than in Silicon Valley where I basically have nothing.” But he sees that many Vietnamese companies are looking to develop AI and hopes he can contribute his knowledge and also build a career. Quan is among a growing number of Vietnamese who, after years of living abroad, are returning to the country to seek opportunities in the fast-growing tech industry. State-owned telecom giant Viettel has been recording steady growth in its overseas markets for the last seven years, including a 20.5% jump in revenues last year. Private tech group FPT reported revenues topped $1 billion from software for the first time last year. The layoffs from tech jobs in developed countries have also been causing many to return. Huu Nguyen, 30, an engineer at Facebook’s parent company Meta, says whenever there is a major layoff, 80-90% of Vietnamese in Singapore would leave for Vietnam. Any successful foreign service and product can be brought to Vietnam and modified to suit local consumers, and ride-hailing services is one example, he says. In foreign countries most Vietnamese can only remain at the employee level while in Vietnam they can be managers or even chief technology officers, he adds. Nguyen Ngoc Dung, a researcher in innovation and startups, says in the last five years an increasing number of Vietnamese have returned home to work in the tech industry. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/economy/vietnamese-tech-talents-find-homeland-has-appealing-career-prospects-4716216.html
