Four years into working in Vietnam. Drawing on experience at both Japanese and local companies, I offer my own observations on Vietnamese office life (?) and various other topics.

Vietnamese Office Fashion

In Japan, suits and dress shirts are still the norm—though going without a tie has become more common lately, people generally still dress quite formally for work. Every year, the slightly awkward suits of new graduates look so bright and fresh that they make me keenly aware of my own age.

Vietnamese office fashion, by contrast, is completely free. In a word, everyone “wears what they want”—and the range of what counts as “what they want” is wide. For men, jeans are perfectly normal, and many staff wear polo shirts or patterned dress shirts. For women, you see everything from flared dresses that make you think, “Wait, are you going to a party?” to blouses with wild patterns. I often wear a jacket to the office to stay warm, and staff almost always ask, “Do you have some important meeting today?” Some companies even make matching T-shirts, and on payday everyone shows up wearing them—there’s a high-school festival vibe to it. That said, people in outside sales mostly wear dress shirts with slacks or skirts, but in those cases the shirts are generally tight-fitting and the skirts are generally above the knee. At a company I used to work for, there was something called “business trip rules,” which banned sandals on trips and required a jacket and collared shirt, plus pleated slacks or a non-flashy skirt—they had to spell out a dress code in that much detail.

That said, once you get used to it, the Vietnamese office style of “wearing what you want” is quite comfortable for Japanese people raised in a rigid suit culture—and it even lets you lift your mood by coming to work in clothes you love.

Side Jobs Are the Norm

It depends on the person, but Vietnamese people are very earnest about making money. Many Vietnamese who work at companies also have side jobs. In most cases these are not approved by the company, so they do them discreetly (though once people know, “discreetly” hardly applies).

When I asked younger staff at my current company, some import and sell cosmetics, others sell homemade snacks online, and some even flip real estate (!)—I was struck by their vitality. Being pitched a condo with the same casual energy as going out for coffee does leave me a bit at a loss for words, though.

Eager-to-Learn Vietnamese

As I touched on with side jobs, Vietnamese people have tremendous vitality. They almost never seem drained after work; once quitting time comes, they devote themselves to self-improvement. Some study languages, some go to yoga or the gym, some attend night school to learn marketing or management theory—they are simply dedicated learners. Being able to speak English is basically a given; what they add on top to build their strengths is a kind of career strategy for them.

When self-improvement time is over, they head out into the night and don’t forget to blow off steam at cafés and bars.

Looking at how Vietnamese people live reminds us of the diligence we Japanese have started to forget, and it spurs me to work harder myself.

Extremely Casual Job-Hopping

It is also true that side jobs and self-improvement often lead to a job change. In Japan, where lifetime employment and seniority-based systems have long been the norm, quite a few people still see changing jobs in a negative light. Here in Vietnam, however, job changes are by no means negative; they are a way to find a place where you can better use your strengths, and everyone is a potential job-hopper. If a side job outgrows the main job, they expand the business and start a company; resigning to pursue better conditions after self-improvement is very common. It is also normal for someone younger to become a manager and supervise older staff, and if the pay does not match what they feel their ability deserves, they quit without much fuss. Japanese companies’ older employment systems cannot keep up with this habit, making it increasingly difficult for Japanese firms to retain capable Vietnamese talent.

Incidentally, resigning during the probation period after hiring is also quite common, and I have seen several probationary staff decide to leave on their first day. The shortest resignation I know of was two hours after starting. Even the Vietnamese staff were surprised by that one.

Domestic Helpers: Allies of Working Women

In Vietnam, the share of women in management is far higher than in Japan. Vietnamese people tend to marry and have children relatively young, so it is not unusual for every female manager in a company to be a mother. Vietnam’s maternity leave is set at six months around childbirth, and quite a few women return to work soon after giving birth. In many cases they leave the child with family living with them, but of course that is not always possible. A strong ally in those situations is the domestic helper. Hiring someone to care for children and handle housework is not unusual in Vietnam, and some households even employ live-in helpers. Finding a helper is usually done through introductions from acquaintances, which apparently helps prevent trouble. One female manager who has had a helper since her baby was small said, “At first I was reluctant to let a stranger into my home, but thanks to years of trust she is now like family, and I can focus on my work—it really helps.” In Japan, the idea that childcare is the mother’s job is still deeply rooted, and mothers face many barriers when returning to work—one of the issues that weigh on them after childbirth. I imagine it would be reassuring to have someone you can entrust childcare to like this. The confident smile of a mother-manager who said with full assurance, “No matter how you raise them, the love is the same,” seemed to guarantee Vietnam’s further growth.