Hiring in Sales & Marketing: Guide and Trends in 2026

Vietnamese companies aim to get more out of smaller teams, bigger roles

Geopolitical uncertainty, stagnant global economic conditions and rising costs weakened hiring confidence in 2025. Although employers were more cautious when hiring, the Sales & Marketing job market saw healthy levels of activity as Vietnam’s economy had several factors working in its favour. Domestic consumption held steady, and the country also benefited from foreign investment inflows, particularly due to manufacturing diversification worldwide.

Across the industrial, consumer and healthcare sectors in particular, AI and digital transformation initiatives prompted companies to home in on boosting efficiency, making data-driven decisions, and deploying integrated commercial models.

Yen Nguyen, Associate Director at Robert Walters Vietnam, notes that this shift in focus has influenced the type of talent in demand.

Increasingly, companies set their sights on talent with a combination of strong commercial acumen and digital and strategic capabilities.

Read on to find out more about the labour market and hiring trends for Vietnam’s Sales & Marketing professionals in 2026.

Shift in talent demand and team sizes

Companies are expected to maintain existing approaches to hiring and workforce management as they move into 2026.

Team sizes will stay small and consist of more cross-functional roles as companies look to deliver high impact at less cost. Particularly in mid-sized and local organisations, Yen anticipates a notable increase in blended commercial roles that merge sales, marketing and strategy.

More upskilling initiatives will also come into place to keep talent competitive as the market becomes more tech-enabled. When hiring, employers will skew towards a skills-based approach, prioritising learning agility and technical capability to assess candidates’ ability to perform and deliver on the job, instead of formal credentials and length of past stints.

More Vietnamese companies are also expanding regionally, which will contribute to demand for talent with cross-border leadership experience.

Top roles and skills in demand

Industrial sector companies are making a concerted push towards growth across both local and export markets. Therefore, demand will be particularly high for business development managers, sales managers and general managers.

Meanwhile, the consumer sector will focus more on adapting to evolving consumer behaviour and rapid digitalisation. Demand is expected to surge for marketing influencer and KOL managers, e-commerce managers, strategy managers and directors, and marketing managers and directors.

Healthcare companies will look to fill technical healthcare roles such as market access manager, regulatory affair manager, brand manager and group brand manager.

Whatever the industry, Yen says that professionals who can translate data and strategy into actionable business outcomes will stand out. Other attributes that are extremely valuable include adaptability, a commercial mindset, a strong collaborative spirit and leadership agility.

Growing careers alongside AI

Within Sales & Marketing, AI tools can now automate routine and execution-heavy tasks like lead generation, content scheduling and performance reporting. Professionals who are responsible for telemarketing, sales support, data entry and basic digital campaign operations therefore face an urgent need to deliver new forms of value to stay relevant in the market.

Yen’s suggestion is to develop strengths in three key areas.

First, industry professionals should look to sharpen their commercial acumen. Particularly in sales, partnership management and leadership, strong relationship-building and communication skills provide a competitive edge.

Next, they should also hone their creative judgment – moving beyond execution towards strategy and innovation. As human insight cannot be replaced by automation, professionals should harness it to stand out in campaign planning, storytelling and brand strategy.

Lastly, data fluency has also become essential. Professionals can start with learning how to use AI tools to enhance efficiency and create more personalised, innovative solutions. They can then move to build data literacy, interpreting AI-generated analytics to make smarter business and marketing decisions.

Be able to speak about growth and culture

Yen finds that professionals in Vietnam now exhibit cautious optimism towards new job opportunities. “They’re open to exploring new roles, but highlight a strong preference for employers with a clear long-term vision and consistent investment in employee growth,” she states.

To attract and retain top talent in the year ahead, Yen says that companies need to showcase how they can offer stability, a positive work culture and strong leadership. These value propositions should be clearly communicated through employer branding efforts.

Marketing alone isn’t enough. As candidates now ask about growth opportunities in greater detail, companies should ensure they have initiatives for training, mentorship and digital upskilling in place. They should also be prepared to share how they are building a purpose-driven and inclusive workplace where employees feel appreciated.

Moderate salary growth

In 2026, salaries are expected to grow by 5 – 10%, a marginal increase from rates in the previous year. This upward adjustment helps to align salaries with other domains like supply chain and finance.

However, professionals may also receive improved benefits instead of salary increments, as companies invest more in career development, upskilling opportunities and work-life balance to attract and retain talent.

Find out more 

Request access to our 2026 Salary Survey to benchmark salaries and to find out more about key hiring trends in Vietnam.