Key points
- Vietnam’s rapidly expanding hotel industry is confronting a serious shortage of workers just as an enormous wave of new properties is preparing to enter the market.
- Hotels are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit operational employees, while the country’s five-year development pipeline of 463 projects and 147,570 rooms threatens to intensify competition for experienced staff across almost every level of hospitality.
- Marriott International and Sun Group signed a major agreement in March to develop 10 additional hotels and resorts totaling almost 4,500 rooms between 2026 and 2030 across Phu Quoc and Vung Tau.
Vietnam’s rapidly expanding hotel industry is confronting a serious shortage of workers just as an enormous wave of new properties is preparing to enter the market. Hotels are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit operational employees, while the country’s five-year development pipeline of 463 projects and 147,570 rooms threatens to intensify competition for experienced staff across almost every level of hospitality.
Image Credit: Thailand Hotel News
The problem is beginning to extend beyond Vietnam’s borders. Human-resource and hospitality recruitment agencies are increasingly looking toward experienced expatriate hoteliers and Thai hospitality professionals working in Thailand as potential candidates for positions in Vietnam. In the middle of this increasingly competitive employment market, this Thailand Hotel News report examines how a shortage affecting existing hotels could become considerably more serious as Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Accor and other operators push ahead with major expansion programs.
Nearly 90 Percent of Businesses Are Recruiting
The scale of Vietnam’s hospitality labor shortage was revealed at the Ho Chi Minh City Hotel Industry Human Resource Development Conference on September 11.
Hoteljob.vn CEO Le Quoc Viet said a large-scale 2026 survey found nearly 90 percent of businesses were either recruiting or experiencing staff shortages. In Ho Chi Minh City, 89.7 percent of surveyed businesses were recruiting, while only 10.3 percent reported relatively stable staffing. Another 71.8 percent described recruitment as difficult or very difficult.
Operational positions present the greatest difficulty, identified by 61.5 percent of businesses. Housekeeping, laundry and public-area cleaning were the hardest departments to staff at 46.2 percent, followed by engineering and maintenance at 41 percent, table service and catering at 35.9 percent, front desk positions at 33.3 percent, and kitchen positions at 23.1 percent.
Hotels were experiencing shortages across an average of 2.4 departments simultaneously, while annual employee turnover averaged 18.9 percent. More than a third of businesses recorded turnover of at least 20 percent.
Those figures are already troublesome, but they become far more significant when Vietnam’s future hotel supply is considered.
Five-Year Pipeline Reaches 147,570 Rooms
Vietnam has 463 hotel projects representing 147,570 rooms in its five-year development pipeline, putting the country among the most active hotel development markets in Asia-Pacific.
Development is particularly concentrated in Da Nang and Phu Quoc, which together account for approximately 30 percent of incoming rooms. Hanoi continues attracting luxury hotel investment, while Ho Chi Minh City has roughly 1,400 rooms under development according to the supplied pipeline data.
International hotel groups are playing a major role. Marriott has more than 53 projects in its pipeline, while IHG has 22 properties under development. Accor is adding thousands of rooms through partnerships with Vietnamese developers.
The challenge is that those hotels will require people long before they open. Pre-opening teams typically begin assembling months ahead of launch, putting new properties directly into competition with established hotels for experienced managers, department heads and operational employees.
Marriott Adds 10 Hotels and Almost 4,500 Rooms
Marriott’s expansion provides a striking example of what is coming.
Marriott International and Sun Group signed a major agreement in March to develop 10 additional hotels and resorts totaling almost 4,500 rooms between 2026 and 2030 across Phu Quoc and Vung Tau.
Seven are planned for Phu Quoc, including properties under W Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Le Méridien and Courtyard by Marriott. Hon Thom will also receive Moxy Hotels and Fairfield by Marriott.
Three more hotels are planned for Vung Tau under Marriott Hotels, Moxy Hotels and Four Points by Sheraton. W Hotels and Moxy Hotels will make their Vietnamese debuts through the wider agreement.
The partnership goes beyond those 10 properties. Sun Group and Marriott previously signed luxury and ultra-luxury developments on Hon Thom under The Luxury Collection, Ritz-Carlton and Ritz-Carlton Reserve, adding another layer to the future recruitment requirement.
Marriott’s growing footprint therefore ranges from select-service and lifestyle hotels through premium resorts and ultra-luxury properties, all of which require different categories of skilled employees.
IHG Expands with Major Can Gio Agreement
IHG is pursuing its own substantial Vietnamese development program, with the supplied pipeline figures showing 22 properties under development.
One of its most significant recent agreements is at Vinhomes Green Paradise Can Gio, where IHG and developer Cangio Tourist City Corporation signed four hotels totaling 1,060 rooms.
The development will include the 400-room InterContinental Saigon Can Gio, 400-room Crowne Plaza Saigon Can Gio, 130-room Holiday Inn Express Saigon Can Gio, and 130-room Garner Saigon Can Gio.
The four hotels are part of the enormous 2,870-hectare Vinhomes Green Paradise coastal development in Ho Chi Minh City.
IHG’s expansion is particularly important from an employment perspective because its pipeline spans different market segments. Luxury InterContinental properties need experienced high-end service teams, while Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express and Garner operate with different staffing structures and customer expectations.
Accor Continues Adding Thousands of Rooms
Accor represents another major source of future employment demand.
The group is adding thousands of hotel rooms through partnerships with local Vietnamese developers, complementing its already extensive presence across luxury, premium, midscale and economy accommodation.
Together, Marriott, IHG and Accor illustrate why Vietnam’s labor problem cannot be viewed simply as a temporary shortage at existing properties. These international operators are developing multiple hotels at the same time as domestic groups and independent developers continue building their own projects.
That means properties scheduled to open during the next five years will increasingly be recruiting from the same limited pool of experienced workers.
Thailand Becomes an Important Recruiting Ground
This expansion is making Thailand increasingly relevant to Vietnam’s hospitality employment market.
Recruitment agencies are looking toward expatriate hotel professionals currently working in Thailand, particularly candidates who already have experience with international hotel brands, resort openings and large-scale operations.
Thailand also offers a substantial pool of experienced Thai hospitality professionals who have worked in luxury resorts, international hotels, restaurants, spas and major tourism destinations.
As Vietnam’s pipeline moves toward opening, recruiters are likely to require general managers, hotel managers, executive chefs, food and beverage directors, sales and marketing executives, revenue specialists, engineers, spa professionals and experienced department heads capable of assembling and training new teams.
For expatriate hoteliers based in Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui, Pattaya and other Thai destinations, Vietnam therefore represents an increasingly significant employment market.
Thai professionals could also become attractive recruitment targets, particularly for specialist, culinary, supervisory and management roles where experience with international guests and established hotel standards is important.
Younger Workers Want Better Pay and Career Prospects
Vietnam’s hotels also face a retention challenge. Although 79.5 percent of businesses had adjusted salaries or improved benefits during the previous 12 months, 59.2 percent of younger workers said lower earnings compared with other industries could persuade them to leave hospitality. Another 48.7 percent cited limited career advancement.
Only 15.8 percent identified shift work as a reason for leaving. Employers saw matters differently: 56.4 percent believed shift-work pressure was the main obstacle for younger workers, while only 7.7 percent considered limited advancement opportunities the primary problem.
The findings suggest that retaining employees will require more than simply filling vacancies. Hotels will need clearer career paths, competitive compensation, professional training and management practices capable of convincing younger workers that hospitality offers a worthwhile long-term career.
Ho Chi Minh City Plans for the Workforce of 2030
Ho Chi Minh City already illustrates the scale of the challenge, with more than 4,800 accommodation establishments and approximately 106,000 rooms.
Many experienced hospitality employees left the industry following COVID-19, while new workers entering the sector require training. City tourism officials consequently see the challenge extending beyond employee numbers to productivity, professional skills and the development of future supervisors, department heads and managers.
Technology is also changing the skills hotels require. Foreign languages, digital capabilities, artificial intelligence, communication skills and the ability to continually learn are becoming increasingly important.
AI is unlikely to eliminate the human requirement. Hoteljob.vn found 83.3 percent of young people believe AI will help them work more efficiently rather than replace them, reflecting hospitality’s continuing dependence on personal interaction, service and guest experience.
Vietnam Must Find the People to Match Its Hotel Ambitions
Vietnam’s hospitality expansion over the next five years is enormous: 463 projects and 147,570 rooms, with Marriott carrying more than 53 projects, IHG 22 properties and Accor adding thousands of additional rooms. Marriott’s newly signed 10-hotel, 4,500-room agreement and IHG’s four-hotel Can Gio development demonstrate that this pipeline is translating into major projects that will need real operating teams. The question is increasingly not whether Vietnam can attract hotel investment, but whether it can recruit, train and retain enough qualified people to operate what is being built. That challenge is likely to make experienced expatriate hoteliers and Thai hospitality professionals in Thailand increasingly valuable as Vietnamese operators and recruitment agencies search across the region for talent.
