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Hiring a Vietnam Development Team for a US Company: Time Zones, Communication and Delivery
How US companies can work effectively with a development team in Vietnam: exact time differences for the US East and West Coasts across daylight saving changes, two sample overlap schedules, asynchronous handoffs and the responsibilities to agree before you start.
Key takeaways
- Hanoi is UTC+7 with no daylight saving. It is 12 hours ahead of US Eastern Time in winter and 11 hours ahead in summer; 15 and 14 hours ahead of Pacific Time.
- Plan one or two short overlap windows a day and run the rest of the collaboration asynchronously through the backlog, decision log and recorded demos.
- Agree release and incident responsibilities explicitly; do not assume round-the-clock coverage.
On this page
Many US startups and product companies work with development teams in Vietnam. The time difference is large, but it can become an advantage: work continues while your US team sleeps, and you wake up to progress. Making that work requires deliberate scheduling, good asynchronous habits and clear responsibilities. This guide gives you exact time differences, two sample schedules and a checklist for setting up the collaboration.
Define the US location and working needs
“US time” is not one time zone. Start with where your decision makers sit:
| US location | Standard time (UTC) | Daylight time (UTC) | Hanoi ahead by (winter) | Hanoi ahead by (summer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern (New York, Atlanta) | UTC−5 | UTC−4 | 12 hours | 11 hours |
| Central (Chicago, Dallas) | UTC−6 | UTC−5 | 13 hours | 12 hours |
| Mountain (Denver) | UTC−7 | UTC−6 | 14 hours | 13 hours |
| Pacific (San Francisco, Seattle) | UTC−8 | UTC−7 | 15 hours | 14 hours |
Hanoi is UTC+7 all year. Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time.
US daylight saving time ended on 1 November 2026 and starts again on 14 March 2027. Vietnam does not change its clocks, so the gap with your team shifts by one hour twice a year. Put both dates in the shared calendar and review recurring meetings when they arrive.
Next, decide what genuinely needs real-time contact: sprint planning, backlog refinement, design reviews, incident calls. Most other work, including code review, status updates and many questions, can be handled asynchronously.
Design realistic working overlap
Here are two sample schedules using specific dates. Times are local.
| Scenario | Date | Hanoi time | US time | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Coast, standard time | Tue 10 Nov 2026 | 08:00–09:30 Tue | 20:00–21:30 Mon (ET) | Optional evening check-in for US lead |
| East Coast, standard time | Tue 10 Nov 2026 | 20:00–21:00 Tue | 08:00–09:00 Tue (ET) | Daily stand-up with Hanoi team working a shifted late block |
| West Coast, standard time | Tue 10 Nov 2026 | 08:00–09:30 Tue | 17:00–18:30 Mon (PT) | Daily sync at the end of the US day / start of the Hanoi day |
| East Coast, daylight time | Thu 15 Apr 2027 | 20:00–21:00 Thu | 09:00–10:00 Thu (ET) | Daily stand-up; one hour later in US terms than in winter |
| West Coast, daylight time | Thu 15 Apr 2027 | 07:30–09:00 Thu | 17:30–19:00 Wed (PT) | Daily sync |
Sample overlap windows. Exact arrangements, including any shifted hours for the Vietnam team, should be agreed in the engagement terms.
The West Coast often finds overlap easier: the end of the Pacific working day meets the start of the Hanoi day. East Coast teams usually choose between an early-morning US slot, which requires Vietnam engineers to work into the evening, and an evening US slot. Rotate inconvenient slots fairly, keep them short, and avoid scheduling every meeting in the overlap window.
Use asynchronous handoffs
The time difference rewards teams that write things down. Set up:
- A shared backlog with clear acceptance criteria, so engineers can start work without waiting for a meeting.
- A decision log recording what was decided, by whom and why.
- End-of-day handoff notes from both sides: what was done, what is blocked, what needs a decision.
- Recorded demos of completed work for stakeholders who cannot attend live.
- Blocker ownership: one named person on each side responsible for unblocking questions within an agreed time.
Want a sample handoff template and overlap plan for your team?
Agree release and incident responsibilities
Decide who does what when software goes live:
| Activity | Typical owner | Question to settle |
|---|---|---|
| Production release approval | US product owner | Who signs off, and in which time window? |
| Deployment execution | Vietnam team or shared | Do releases happen during Vietnam hours or US hours? |
| Monitoring and alerts | Shared | Who receives alerts outside working hours? |
| Incident response | Agreed per severity | What response is expected for critical incidents at night? |
| Customer communication | US team | Who informs customers during an incident? |
Release and incident responsibility checklist.
Do not assume round-the-clock support is included in a development engagement. If you need on-call coverage, agree its scope and price separately.
Estimate scope and collaboration costs
When comparing a Vietnam team with US hiring or other locations, compare the same roles, seniority and hours, and include your own coordination time. Our guide to dedicated team costs in Vietnam explains how to build a comparable monthly budget. We do not quote a universal saving: the result depends on roles, rates and how much management time your team invests.
Evaluate a Vietnam team
Look for evidence of working with US clients: reviews from US-based companies, references you can call, and a delivery lead comfortable with your time zone. PoliteTech, for example, is based in Hanoi and its Clutch reviews include clients in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Massachusetts, Maryland and Indiana. We do not have a US office; collaboration runs remotely from Hanoi.
Then start with a bounded first engagement, such as a discovery phase or a defined milestone, and review the collaboration after the first few weeks:
- Are handoff notes useful and timely?
- Are questions answered within the agreed window?
- Is the overlap schedule sustainable for both teams?
- Is the quality of work meeting your definition of done?
Frequently asked questions
Will the Vietnam team work US hours?
Full US-hour coverage is unusual and hard to sustain. Most teams agree a daily overlap window, sometimes with partly shifted hours, and work asynchronously otherwise.
Is the 12-hour difference a problem?
It requires discipline, but many teams find it productive: questions sent in the US afternoon are answered by the next morning.
How do we handle urgent production issues?
Agree severity levels, contacts and response expectations in advance. If you need overnight coverage, include it explicitly in the agreement.
Does a Vietnam vendor need a US entity?
Not necessarily. Contracting arrangements vary; take legal advice on contracts, tax and data protection for your situation.
Sources and methodology
Facts in this article were checked against the sources below on 5 November 2026. Directory data (ratings, review counts, rate bands and team sizes) changes over time and is shown as published on the date accessed. Illustrative examples are labelled as such and are not quotes.
- Time Out: When daylight saving time ends in 2026 — accessed 5 November 2026. US DST ended 1 Nov 2026; starts 14 Mar 2027; Arizona and Hawaii do not observe
- Clutch: PoliteTech Software profile — accessed 5 November 2026. Reviewer locations; Hanoi offices
- PoliteTech: Dedicated Development Teams — accessed 5 November 2026. Engagement model
Related reading
Continue your research
Hiring and Outsourcing
How to Hire Software Developers in Vietnam: A Practical Checklist
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Tell us your city, core hours and release rhythm. We will propose an overlap schedule and team structure that fits.