Hanoiruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Government, diplomacy & development
Ministries, ~95 embassies, UN agencies, World Bank, ADB, JICA, KOICA
Every national ministry, the State Bank of Vietnam and the whole diplomatic corps sit in Hanoi, which makes it the base for development finance, policy and regulatory work in a way Ho Chi Minh City is not.
Electronics & manufacturing
Samsung, Foxconn, Canon, LG, Luxshare, Goertek
Hanoi is the residential and management hub for the northern manufacturing belt — Bắc Ninh, Thái Nguyên, Hải Phòng and Vĩnh Phúc are all inside a two-hour drive, and Samsung's Vietnamese operations are concentrated there rather than in the south.
Software & IT services
FPT Software, Viettel, VNPT, CMC, Rikkeisoft, NashTech
FPT and Viettel are both headquartered here, and the Hòa Lạc high-tech park to the west is the state's flagship R&D site. Japanese and Korean outsourcing contracts dominate the northern market where the south leans toward US and European clients.
Banking & finance
State Bank of Vietnam, Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, Techcombank, VPBank
Vietnam's central bank and the head offices of most of the large state-linked commercial banks are in Hanoi. Regulatory and licensing work happens here even when the commercial business is booked in Saigon.
Education & research
Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Foreign Trade University, RMIT Hanoi, British Council
The densest concentration of universities in the country, and the reason Cầu Giấy and Thanh Xuân are full of students, cheap food and language-teaching work.
Tourism & hospitality
Vietravel, Saigontourist, Sun Group, Metropole, Lotte, Sofitel
Hanoi is the gateway to Hạ Long Bay, Sa Pa and Ninh Bình, so hotel, tour and F&B operations are a large employer — heavily seasonal, with the autumn months carrying the year.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.