The Returnee Illusion: Vietnam Doesn’t Need More Interns
Vietnam doesn’t need more junior analysts. It needs seasoned operators.
Walk into any café in Saigon or Hanoi today and you’ll hear it: fluent English with a Western cadence, Vietnamese sprinkled in. A new generation of returnees is flowing back from Silicon Valley, Sydney, London, Singapore. They’re bright, well-educated, often clutching degrees from top global universities.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Vietnam is not yet getting what it actually needs.
We’re importing ambition — not experience. CVs, not capabilities. The diaspora is returning, yes — but overwhelmingly as individual contributors, not institution builders. And that’s a problem.
The Policy Is Finally Catching Up. The Pipeline Isn’t.
In July 2025, Vietnam quietly made one of the most consequential talent policy moves in years: it relaxed dual citizenship rules and rolled out a suite of targeted incentives to bring overseas Vietnamese professionals back — without requiring them to give up foreign passports. It’s a clear signal from the top: Vietnam is officially open for returnee talent.
Top officials have even hinted at future breakthroughs — from fast-tracked visas to housing and salary packages. It’s part of a broader economic reform wave under General Secretary Tô Lâm aimed at strengthening the private sector, targeting growth in high-impact industries like semiconductors, AI, and green infrastructure.
But while the policies are trending in the right direction, the pipeline remains thin where it matters most: at the leadership level.
Vietnam’s Growth Story Has Moved Past the Intern Phase
Fifteen years ago, Vietnam could benefit from juniors returning home. Fresh grads from UCLA, LSE, or Monash were already ahead of the local curve. Today, that’s no longer enough. Vietnam is not in the “build awareness” phase anymore. It’s in the “build capacity” phase. That requires experienced managers, operators, and capital allocators — not just analysts and associates.
People like Minh Hoang — a former Google engineer who recently returned to become Chief Data Officer at Techcom Securities — are the right kind of returnees. But they’re the exception, not the rule.
The First Wave Was Inspiring. But It’s No Longer Enough.
In 1990s and early 2000s, returnees like David Thai (Highlands Coffee), Don Lam (VinaCapital), and Louis Nguyen (Saigon Asset Management) were symbols of possibility — overseas Vietnamese who brought back capital, energy, and legitimacy to Vietnam’s post-renovation economy.
They were the pioneers. The fact that they came back at all was the message.
But that era is over. Today, Vietnam needs something different.
We don’t need symbolic returns. We need systemic impact. And the returnees of this generation must bring more than ambition and accent. They must bring operational depth — the ability to lead large teams, execute in ambiguous environments, and build institutions that scale beyond themselves.
The bar has risen. And Vietnam’s needs have matured.
The Gaps Are Structural — and Still Persist
Minh’s story is heartening. So is that of Anh Kim Pham, a former Accenture and Bank of America lead now heading data at VPBank. And An Luong, the Stanford alum now running AI at Masan Group.
But even these high-profile returnees face harsh truths:
Top-down corporate culture limits influence and knowledge sharing.
No dependent visa policy makes it hard for senior professionals with families to relocate.
Regulatory inconsistency — different provinces interpreting national rules differently — slows down work permits and onboarding.
High personal income taxes with little perceived return scare off professionals accustomed to transparent welfare systems.
Vietnam may have reformed the law. But the operating environment still resists the kind of leadership it says it wants.
We’re Still Celebrating the Wrong Things
The media loves to spotlight a 28-year-old Vietnamese American product manager landing in Saigon and “bringing innovation.” But what Vietnam needs more urgently are the 38- to 48-year-olds who have:
Scaled teams across continents
Managed crises
Built governance systems
Raised and deployed real capital
Trained successors
We need fewer LinkedIn posts celebrating where someone studied — and more real efforts to recruit people who’ve done hard things, and are ready to do them again in Vietnam.
The Real Stakes: A Leadership Gap That Will Cost Us
If we don’t reverse this dynamic, Vietnam’s next phase of growth will be dangerously shallow.
Young returnees don’t stay long enough to scale. Local professionals aren’t always promoted fast enough. And the handful of experienced diaspora who do return often burn out trying to push change in systems that aren’t ready.
We’re at risk of becoming a nation of talented individuals trapped in underperforming institutions.
A Leadership Platform That Doesn’t Assume — It Builds
Too often, returnees arrive with the right experience but no real platform to plug into. They’re either over-placed in legacy firms that aren’t ready to change, or underutilized in startups still finding their footing.
That’s why we built Vietnam Vanguard — not as a networking club, but as a platform for serious operators, second-generation successors, and senior diaspora professionals returning to lead. Through forums, private executive circles, and partnerships with global institutions like Washington University in St. Louis, we’re helping Vietnam’s next leadership layer find each other — and scale together.
Vietnam doesn’t just need returnees. It needs returnees who stay — and build. Vanguard exists to make that possible.
The Window Is Open — For Now
There are 6 million overseas Vietnamese, with 10% classified as “highly qualified.” Vietnam doesn’t need all of them back. But it must compete hard for the ones who can lead — before other countries pull them deeper into their systems.
This isn’t about nationalism. It’s about institutional leverage.
If Vietnam is serious about transforming into a regional powerhouse — not just a manufacturing hub or startup playground — it must solve the leadership layer. That means bringing back not just talent, but the right talent.
And that window won’t stay open forever.
