Opening a headhunting agency or a recruitment service company in Vietnam can be an endless process if you do not know the following
Conditions to set up a Headhunting agency in Vietnam
In Vietnam, recruitment or headhunting is a conditional business. To legally operate a business in this field, the investor needs to go through a two-step procedure:
- Step 1: In Vietnam, a headhunting agency must obtain the Business code 7810 according to the VSIC – Vietnam Standards of Industrial Classifications (Recruitment, headhunting, job placement service) into the company’s business license.
- Step 2: For a headhunting agency in Vietnam to start its operation, it must obtain the Recruitment Service Operation license, after Step 1 above is completed.
Conditions to obtain Recruitment service business line
Opening a Recruitment agency nowadays has been very much easier than it was before. Previously, the step to obtain the business code 7810 was subjected to Ministry approval which took months to complete and did not even guarantee success.
Today, this code can be granted by the authority at the city or provincial level, and the process takes roughly about 3 to 4 weeks, like many standard businesses. Typically, investors hire an experienced consultancy firm to work on the dossiers in order to save time and resources.
Conditions to obtain Recruitment service operation license
After obtaining business line VSIC 7810 into the license, the company will be required to obtain a sub-license in order to legally provide the service so-called: “the Recruitment Service Operation license”. This license is subject to the Department of Labor’s approval.
To apply for this sub-license, the company must prepare to meet all of the following requirements:
- Create an escrow account of 300 Million Vietnam dong (or roughly 13,600 US dollars). Remember that this escrow account is an inaccessible fund. It means you must freeze the money until code 7810 is removed from the business license.
- The company must have at least a 3-year office leasing contract starting from the date of Step 2 application submission.
- At least one legal representative (Director) of the company has a University degree in the HR field or minimum 2 years of experience in an HR management position. If the papers are issued overseas, they need to be legalized by a Vietnamese embassy in that country. If the person is a non-Vietnamese, he must obtain a Work Permit in Vietnam as well. VNBG’s suggestion is to put a Vietnamese person to be the Director of the company as an easier approach to the license, where we can reduce significant paper works significantly.
Market entry shortcut
As recruitment services are a conditional business in Vietnam, the regulatory entry barrier is relatively higher than in other fields. Many businesses choose to forego the licenses and provide recruitment/headhunting services without them (illegally) or to bury it under another business line (such as HR consulting, or management consulting). This approach may save the investor time and money in the short term, but it is not recommended in the long run.
You may be interested in this article as well: Buy off a shelf or an aged company in Vietnam.
In any case, if you want to move forward, VNBG can assist you in establishing a new recruitment company, obtaining the license, or opening an HR consulting firm instead. Fill out the form to notify our consultant that you have a question about this topic; we will contact you as soon as possible.
