Sixty five percent of them have been contacted by headhunters three times on average in the last 12 months, with one-third of them contacted up to 10 times, according to survey results recently released by HCMC-based recruitment firm Anphabe.

The ratio of employees who want to quit in Vietnam has been increasing in the last three years and could reach 24 percent this year, Anphabe said.

Among low-level employees, higher salaries mean less desire to quit, but this is not so with team leaders and supervisors, the survey found.

Thirty-five percent of team leaders/supervisors who earn between VND25-40 million ($1,080-1,700) per month plan to quit, compared to 26 percent of those who earn under VND10 million ($431).

The reason for more employees wanting to quit is the increasing number of businesses entering the market in Vietnam’s fast growing economy, the survey said.

From January to September over 102,000 companies were registered, up 5.9 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Other factors, like a desire to start their own business or to work abroad also explain the increase in people leaving their jobs, Anphabe said.

Employees quitting create a large burden for businesses. A company will have to spend up to 20 percent of the vacant position’s annual salary to find the right candidate, the survey said.

It will also have to spend up to 50 percent of the new employee’s annual salary on training him or her.