Introduction

“What are Vietnamese engineers actually like?”

This is one of the most common questions we hear from project managers and executives considering offshore development. While there’s a general impression that Vietnamese engineers are “affordable and hardworking,” many people still feel uncertain about whether they can truly delegate work, or worry about quality and communication.

This article is written by ALLEXCEED Vietnam, a company that has been operating offshore development in Ho Chi Minh City for over 15 years and works daily with more than 100 Vietnamese engineers. We share our real on-the-ground experience—focusing specifically on the strengths and weaknesses of working with engineers based in Vietnam through offshore development, not Vietnamese engineers working in Japan. We hope this helps you make better decisions when selecting vendors or planning your team structure.

Overview of Vietnam’s IT Talent Pool

Let’s start with the numbers to get a clear picture of Vietnam’s IT workforce.

Vietnam’s IT industry currently employs approximately 530,000 engineers, with around 57,000 new graduates entering the workforce each year. (Source: VTI, “Human Resources of Vietnam IT Industry in 2023”)

According to the TopDev 2022 survey, the skill distribution is as follows: Freshers 12%, Junior 29%, Middle 34%, Senior 18%, and Lead or above 7%—with middle-level engineers forming the largest segment. (Source: TopDev, “Vietnam IT Market Report 2022”) While some assume Vietnam’s talent pool is dominated by beginners, in reality, mid-level and above engineers account for more than 50% of the workforce—meaning there are plenty of job-ready engineers to draw from.

The average age of our engineers is 29 years old, reflecting Vietnam’s broader trend of a young, energetic IT workforce. This brings speed and adaptability, but requires some care when it comes to upstream processes that demand deeper experience (more on this below).

5 Key Strengths of Vietnamese Engineers

1. Strong Foundation in Math and Logical Thinking

Vietnam’s government has invested heavily in STEM education, and a 2018 curriculum reform made information technology a mandatory subject starting from Grade 3.

The results speak for themselves internationally. Vietnam ranked 3rd in the world at the 2017 International Mathematical Olympiad, behind only South Korea and China—demonstrating a world-class foundation in logical reasoning and mathematical thinking.

In our experience working with over 80 engineers, when we ask “why did you choose this logic?”, most engineers can clearly explain their reasoning. The habit of writing code that “just works” without a clear rationale is relatively rare. This strong foundation shows up in their persistence and precision when tackling algorithm implementation and bug analysis.

2. High Motivation and Drive for Self-Improvement

We see Vietnamese engineers’ drive for self-improvement in our daily work. Many actively pursue certifications and stay current with the latest technologies, with growing interest in areas like AI and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure).

Adaptability to AI coding tools is particularly noteworthy. When we rolled out GitHub Copilot and Cursor across our entire engineering team, many members independently learned the tools and spontaneously organized internal study sessions. We have since formed a Generative AI Task Force where senior engineers continuously evaluate and test the latest AI tools. More engineers adopting an “AI-fluent” mindset is a reassuring development for our Japanese clients.

Capability in AI development projects is also steadily growing. We have hands-on experience developing a face recognition attendance system that accounts for mask-wearing patterns—demonstrating our team’s ability to apply image recognition and machine learning to real-world use cases. In Vietnam, Hanoi University of Science and Technology launched a dedicated generative AI engineering program in 2024, signaling that the next generation of AI engineers is being actively cultivated.

3. Many Japanese Speakers, Lower Communication Barriers

People sometimes ask, “Can your engineers work in English?” Honestly, in our experience, strong English communication skills are not the norm on our floor.

Vietnam’s offshore development market for Japanese clients is mature, which means there are a meaningful number of Japanese-speaking engineers. However, not all are fluent, and engineers who can hold direct conversations over Slack or Meet are limited.

This is where IT communicators (dedicated interpreter staff) fluent in both Japanese and IT become critical. We have 9 IT communicators who accurately bridge technical content in Japanese. By not relying solely on individual engineers’ language skills, we significantly reduce communication-related issues. Many of our engineers also show a genuine respect for Japanese work culture and communication norms, which builds trust with our Japanese clients.

In terms of English reading ability, Vietnam has an advantage. Vietnam’s EF EPI score (498) outranks Japan’s (454), meaning our engineers can more readily access global technical resources and OSS documentation—helping them pick up new frameworks and technologies faster. (Source: EF EPI 2024)

4. Fast and Accurate Coding

When it comes to implementing business logic, coding to detailed specifications, and testing, Vietnamese engineers perform at a high level. Our engineers cover major tech stacks including JavaScript (React/Node.js), Java, .NET (C#/VB.NET), and PHP, and it’s not uncommon to have engineers who can work across multiple domains.

In one of our projects, we completed a large-scale migration from Java 1.4.2 to Java 21 (Spring Boot) in 31 person-months. By combining in-house automation tools with optimized test processes, we reproduced all business logic accurately and delivered on schedule. (Source: ALLEXCEED Vietnam Project Case Study No.7)

Additionally, our engineers don’t separate testing from development—they handle unit and integration testing themselves, which makes quality verification smoother. The attitude of “delivering something that actually works, not just something built” is consistently praised by our Japanese clients.

5. Cost Advantage Through Offshore Utilization

One important caveat: this advantage applies when working with engineers based in Vietnam through offshore development. Vietnamese engineers hired in Japan are paid at Japanese market rates, so no cost advantage applies.

Monthly salaries for Vietnam-based engineers vary by experience: Junior-level engineers (1–2 years of experience) earn approximately $600–750/month, while Mid-level engineers (3–4 years) earn approximately $1,000–1,100/month. (Source: ITviec, “Vietnam IT Salary Report 2023-2024”)

In terms of project costs, our track record shows that clients in the greater Tokyo area can achieve 50–70% cost reduction compared to domestic development.

For companies struggling with talent shortages and rising recruitment costs, offshore development with a strong skill-to-cost ratio is a realistic and immediately effective option. Choosing a vendor that supports both lab-type (dedicated team) and fixed-price models allows for flexible team structures that match the nature of each project.

Weaknesses You Shouldn’t Overlook—and How to Address Them

Alongside these strengths, there are weaknesses worth being honest about when planning what to delegate and how to structure your team.

Weakness 1: Limited Experience in Upstream Processes

When it comes to upstream work like requirements definition and high-level design, many engineers feel less confident. While their skills in “accurately building what they’re told” are high, they tend to have less experience in “proposing what should be built” or “proactively resolving ambiguity in specifications.”

This is less a reflection of capability and more a result of offshore development’s structural tendency to assign downstream work to overseas teams. The most reliable approach today is to have the Japanese PM or product owner lead upstream work, with the Vietnamese team taking over from detailed design onward.

Weakness 2: Difficulty Creating Japanese-Language Documentation

Even engineers who can communicate in Japanese often lack the specific skills required to produce business documents, specification sheets, or meeting minutes in Japanese. The ability to converse technically is very different from the ability to write accurately and appropriately in formal Japanese, and most engineers haven’t reached a level where their written output can be used as-is.

We have 9 IT communicators fluent in both Japanese and IT who support document review and revision. When selecting a vendor, we strongly recommend checking whether this kind of language support structure is in place.

Weakness 3: Handling Vague Specifications

The approach common in Japanese SIers—”build something roughly functional and refine the requirements along the way”—is difficult for Vietnamese engineers to navigate. They perform best when specifications are clear; when specs have gaps or contradictions, they tend to stall.

Flipped around, this means: “Invest in writing clear specs, and you’ll get high-quality output in return.” Taking time upfront to organize requirements pays off in both quality and workload management.

How to Evaluate Engineers Before Engaging

When considering offshore outsourcing, here are 5 key points to assess whether the engineers proposed by a vendor are truly up to the task.

1. Use a coding test to evaluate foundational skills
A code implementation test using a realistic scenario is most effective. Beyond checking “can they write working code?”, asking them to verbally explain “why they chose this approach” helps assess the depth of their logical thinking. Whether a vendor is willing to arrange this kind of test is also a signal of their professionalism.

2. Confirm which phases they’ve worked on in past projects
Check whether they’ve been involved in requirements definition and design, or mainly in implementation and testing. If you need upstream involvement, either request experienced engineers be assigned, or plan with Japanese-side coverage in mind. “Development” on a resume often means “implementation only,” so always dig into the specific role they played in each project.

3. See whether they proactively clarify ambiguous specs
Ask in the interview: “What do you do when specs are unclear?” or “How do you handle contradictions you notice?” This helps you identify whether they tend to proceed without asking—which causes most offshore project problems—or whether they have the habit of actively seeking clarification. This is one of the most important evaluation criteria.

4. Test their ability to explain technical decisions
Asking them to logically explain their code or design decisions evaluates both analytical ability and communication skills simultaneously. A prompt like “How would you explain this code to a Japanese PM?” is a useful real-world simulation, especially for work that goes through IT communicators.

5. Evaluate the vendor’s PM structure and communication channels
Beyond individual engineer quality, the vendor’s overall management structure must also be assessed. Check whether they have PMs and IT communicators in place, and whether weekly and monthly reporting systems are established. Even the best engineers can’t deliver stable quality and deadlines without a solid management structure. The speed and quality of responses to your inquiries is also a key indicator of vendor reliability.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, Vietnamese engineers are “implementation professionals with strong coding skills and motivation, grounded in mathematical and logical thinking.” At the same time, upstream processes and Japanese-language documentation tend to be weak points—and how the Japanese side compensates for these gaps is what determines whether a project succeeds.

Expecting a “do-anything, all-capable engineer” from offshore development will lead to disappointment. But when used with the perspective of “delegating implementation from detailed design onward” and “building a long-term, high-quality coding partnership,” they have the potential to match or exceed what you’d get from domestic engineers.

When selecting a vendor, we recommend evaluating not just the engineers’ skills, but also the PM structure, the availability of IT communicators, and the model for collaborating on upstream work.

We will propose the best approach for your project

As a leading Japanese IT solutions company with approximately 20 years of experience in Vietnam offshore development, we provide software and system development services.
Please feel free to contact us when considering offshore development.

Vietnam Offshore Development

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