In line with Sharesource’s ‘BHAG’ (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of providing meaningful work to STEM graduates in ten developing countries, we’re super excited to announce the creation of our second hub country  - Vietnam! Sharesource is also happy to introduce Van Phan who is helping to set up our new office in Ho Chi Minh City. Van has over ten years of experience in HR strategy and recruitment in the software industry. She’s very excited to join the Sharesource team and will be a valuable asset in ensuring we bring on board the smartest and most motivated talent.

Our new talent will be sourced primarily from Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as Saigon) - Vietnam’s commercial and business hub. Unlike Vietnam’s smaller and more government-orientated capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is a diverse and bustling urban centre, favoured by tech start-ups amongst both Vietnamese natives and expats. It offers a wealth of tech talent (particularly developers) and excellent tertiary institutions. Around 70% of developers in Vietnam are under the age of 30 - it’s a young, fast and vibrant country. The BPO industry is competitive and booming due to the country’s growing pool of skilled talent. 40,000 IT graduates enter the job market every year and English is encouraged as a working language. Ho Chi Minh City offers fascinating history, diverse food, great nightlife and a strong motorbike culture (making getting around the CBD much less of an ordeal.) With a population of around 7.5million people, the locals are known to be friendly with a healthy dose of scepticism, coupled with a fierce work ethic. In fact, in addition to the abundance of super-smart tech talent available in this hub, the conscientious and hard-working nature of the people here is also a great business advantage. Needless to say, the labour cost arbitrage makes for very attractive cost-savings overall.

Interestingly, comparatively speaking, COVID-19 has barely affected Vietnam. As of mid-August, there have been around 900 cases and 21 deaths amongst a population of 97million (and a long border with China.) After only a two week lockdown period in March, many businesses returned to working in offices (whilst adhering to government health and safety precautions.) This is largely attributed to the government’s drastic, wide-reaching and very early reaction in January. Vietnam is cited by global media as having one of the best-organized epidemic control programmes in the world. The country’s response to COVID-19 has received acclaim for its immediacy, effectiveness and transparency.

In line with Sharesource’s strategy of ‘cross offshoring’ (having multiple offices in different locations around the world), we’re also planning hubs in Colombia and Zimbabwe (where we already have staff.) Having a global team is rapidly becoming the ‘new normal’. It brings access to a larger and more skilled talent pool, diversity of thinking and greater innovation and creativity - all critical for an organization’s ability to innovate and adapt in a fast-changing environment. Watch this space! 

If you need help looking for global talent in distributed hubs, download our eBook, '30 Essential Questions to Ask a Provider Before You Outsource’. It will ensure you're informed and have the right questions to ask when considering the next step.