Vietnam is UTC+7 — that's 12 hours ahead of EST and 15 hours ahead of PST. Sounds challenging, but with the right workflows, Canadian companies get a productive overlap window and the benefit of round-the-clock progress.
The Overlap Window
NKKTech schedules 4 hours of daily overlap with Eastern Time (8 AM–12 PM ET; 8 PM–midnight Vietnam time in winter, 7–11 PM during US daylight time). This window is enough for daily standups, code reviews, and decision-making calls. Many Vietnamese engineers are flexible with schedules and will shift hours for important client meetings.
Async-First Communication
Design your workflow for async by default, sync when needed. Use Loom for code walkthroughs, Linear/Jira for task tracking with clear acceptance criteria, and Slack for quick questions with a 4-hour response SLA during business hours. Every task should have written context so work continues across timezones.
Tools and Rituals That Work
Weekly demos (Friday AM EST = Friday PM Vietnam). Daily async standups in Slack (what I did, what I'm doing, blockers). Shared Figma for design handoffs. GitHub PRs with detailed descriptions. The timezone difference becomes an advantage — your team works while you sleep, and you wake up to progress.
Next step
Worried a 12-hour time difference will slow your project? Book a free 30-minute call to plan the overlap window, handoffs and roles; within 3 business days you get a dedicated-team plan with monthly pricing to compare against hiring.
Senior engineers in Vietnam, a clearly defined scope, and a written proposal within 3 business days.
10 years of experience working with Japanese companies — two of those years based in Japan. Has run the business since 2018 (as NKKTech since 2025) with a senior-only engineering model.