A fast-growing cross-border payments startup needed to scale its engineering team in Vietnam immediately. With no local HR infrastructure and real compliance risk, they turned to Talent JDI — and had a fully onboarded, legally employed team before their next sprint cycle.
Industry:
SaaS / Technology
|
Headquarter:
Sydney, Australia
|
Team Size:
8 Developers
|
Engineers Hired Timeline:
2 Weeks
|
|
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
6
Engineers onboarded (1 lead + 5 senior)
3 Weeks
From brief to a fully onboarded team
40–50%
Cost saving vs. Singapore hiring
100%
Full legal compliance from the start
ABOUT THE CLIENT
Our client is a Singapore-based fintech company developing a cross-border payment and digital wallet platform for SMEs across Southeast Asia. With product-market fit validated and investor backing secured, the engineering team was the bottleneck, preventing them from reaching their next major product milestone.
But hiring in Singapore wasn’t the answer. Senior developers commanded SGD 120,000–160,000 per year. Employment Pass quotas were tight, and the talent pool was thin for their tech stack. That’s when they decided to pick Vietnam as an alternative for its strong technical talent, yet competitive salaries, and a thriving candidate pipeline.
However, Vietnam was a market they had never operated in before. So instead of diving in blind, the company chose to partner with Talent JDI.
THE CHALLENGE
Three Problems Stood Between Them and The Team
The client had the vision and the headcount budget. What they lacked was a safe, proven path to execute. Three barriers had to be resolved simultaneously and quickly.
- ✕ Couldn't legally hire in Vietnam
- ✕ Freelancer setup created compliance risk
- ✕ Due diligence pressure before funding round
- ✕ Hard to verify talent remotely
- ✕ No clear salary benchmarks
- ✕ Generic job boards produced large volumes of unvetted applicants
- ✕ Product needed fast execution
- ✕ Global hiring platforms were too slow
- ✕ Needed speed without compliance risk
THE SOLUTION
Four Steps. Three Weeks. One Fully Operational Team.
After an initial discovery call, Talent JDI offered a personalised hiring strategy that resolved every barrier in a single, seamless engagement. This is only possible because Talent JDI is the only Vietnam-specialist provider that combines executive search, pre-vetted tech talent, and Ministry of Labour-licensed EOR services under one roof.
Steps Preview - Adjusted Padding
Day 1–2
Discovery & Role Architecture
Our team embedded with the client’s CTO to map exact role requirements, tech stack priorities, and cultural fit criteria. We translated their Singapore-centric job specs into the Vietnam market language — adjusting seniority bands, salary benchmarks, and interview frameworks to reflect the HCMC engineering reality.
Day 2–6
Talent Sourcing
Rather than posting to public job boards, we activated our private network of 30,000+ pre- screened Vietnamese tech professionals. Within 48 hours, the client received a shortlist of 12 qualified candidates — all verified against the role requirements, technically assessed, and salary-confirmed.
Day 7–14
Interview Process
Talent JDI coordinated and facilitated all interview rounds across Singapore and HCMC time zones, handling scheduling, technical assessment logistics, and candidate communication. We provided real-time feedback loops between hiring managers and candidates to keep momentum.
Day 14–21
EOR Onboarding
Using our Ministry of Labour-licensed EOR structure, we legally employed all six engineers on behalf of the client from their first working day. Employment contracts, social insurance, personal income tax withholding, and labour law compliance were fully in place. No legal entity required. No compliance gaps. No risk.
THE RESULTS
Scale Twice As Fast With A High-performing Team in Vietnam
With six engineers legally employed and fully onboarded in three weeks, the client immediately closed the resource gap that had been blocking product delivery. The results went beyond headcount:
Product velocity restored
The team shipped a delayed payment feature within the first sprint cycle — a milestone that had been pushed back three months due to the Singapore talent shortage.
40–50% engineering cost reduction
Fully-loaded developer costs in Vietnam came in at up to half that of equivalent Singapore hires, freeing up runway for product investment.
Zero compliance exposure
Every team member was legally employed from day one under a Ministry of Labour-licensed structure.
Team retention at 12 months
All six engineers remained with the client a year post-hire.
Ongoing partnership
Talent JDI remained engaged as the client's Vietnam HR arm — supporting long-term scale.
WHY TALENT JDI
What Makes Talent JDI Different from Every Other Option
The success story above was not achievable through a generic EOR platform or a general recruitment agency. Here is why companies that need to hire in Vietnam choose Talent JDI over others:
|
Talent JDI |
Glints TalentHub |
Deel |
AYP Group |
| Vietnam-only specialist |
✓ |
✗ |
✗ |
✗ |
| Recruitment + EOR bundled |
✓ |
✓ |
✗ |
✗ |
| Pre-vetted tech talent pool |
30,000+ devs |
10M+ (generic) |
— |
— |
| Ministry licensed & compliant |
✓ |
Partial |
✓ |
✓ |
| Dedicated account manager |
✓ |
✗ |
✗ |
✓ |
| Time to first hire |
< 2 weeks |
3–4 weeks |
No recruitment |
No recruitment |
| EOR monthly cost |
Market-competitive |
$299+/mo + 18% |
$599/mo |
Flat fee |
Global EOR platforms like Deel or Remote will legally employ your Vietnamese developer — but they will not find, screen, or place them. You are on your own for recruitment. Regional competitors like Glints TalentHub offer both services, but Vietnam is one of seven markets: their depth of local knowledge, tech-specific screening rigour, and personalised service do not match a provider whose entire business is built on Vietnam.
Talent JDI is the unique provider combining 8+ years of on-the-ground Vietnam expertise, a Ministry of Labour licence, a 30,000+ pre-vetted tech talent pool, and a fully integrated recruitment-to-EOR offering — all managed by a dedicated account team, not a self-serve platform.
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Ready to Build Your Vietnam Engineering Team?
Whether you're hiring your first Vietnamese developer or scaling an entire department,
Talent JDI will get you there — fast, compliant, and cost-effectively.
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