In Vietnam, night services thrive thanks to Gen Z

At 11:00 pm on a rainy night in late September, on Kinh Duong Vuong Street in An Lac Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, delivery rider Cong Tai, 25, from the Mekong Delta, received an order for a bowl of pho.

Tai paid VND42,000 (US$1.6) upfront out of pocket and received a delivery fee of nearly VND13,000 ($0.5) for a distance of less than 2.5km.

Formerly a worker in the leather and footwear industry, Tai has been working as a delivery rider for nearly a year. 

Unlike most drivers, he only activates the delivery app after 9:00 pm and works until the following morning.

"Nighttime is the golden time. Don't think there's no work at night — there are actually quite a lot of orders," Tai said.

Tai opened the app to show his earnings for the day, which were quite high compared to many daytime riders. 

On a good day, he can earn up to VND1 million ($37.8), with the lowest around VND450,000 ($17).

In contrast, daytime traffic jams and a high number of drivers can leave others with just around VND600,000 ($22.7).

Late-night orders vary, ranging from banh mi, rice paper salad, milk tea, grilled chicken, porridge, to noodle soup.

Many nighttime deliveries also involve large and high-value items like wardrobes, sofas, clothes, phones, and computers.

The customer base is diverse but mainly consists of young people who tend to stay up late.

Nam, from Ninh Binh Province in northern Vietnam, currently living in Di An Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, said he has maintained a routine of turning on his app from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am. 

After trying various jobs, he chose to stick with ride-hailing after turning 53.

With 10 hours of work per night, he usually earns VND400,000–600,000 ($15.1-22.7).

"At my age, I can't handle daytime as the roads are crowded and noisy. Luckily, nighttime customers are great too. Delivering food, picking up young folks going to work or out to play at night are quite fun," Nam shared.

Ride-hailing driver Tran Nhat Minh, a 29-year-old resident in Thu Duc Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, also chooses to activate his app around 9:00 pm, sometimes even later.

Driving at night come with risks — poorly lit roads and a growing number of reports about robberies targeting app-based drivers. 

But Minh accepts the risks because nighttime is his main shift.

According to Minh, food delivery orders spike from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am. 

Even though delivery fees are only VND10,000–30,000 ($0.4-1.1), "small drops make a big ocean."

Heavy and bulky orders like machinery and furniture are also often placed late at night. 

Customers are willing to pay more or tip better. The cooler temperatures and clear roads at night make driving less stressful.

Providing unusual services

Vu Duc Anh, 28, living and working in Hanoi, founder of Need A Friend Co. Ltd., said his business of listening to strangers' stories is thriving.

The service emerged from a real need among many young people today — to confide, vent, and release their emotions and frustrations to someone.

According to Duc Anh, Need A Friend currently offers three service packages. The basic package costs VND300,000 ($11.4) per hour, where the customer talks while Duc Anh simply listens, either online or in person.

The professional package includes premium services beyond just listening, as many customers seek empathy, sharing, support, protection, or even guidance. This package is priced at VND500,000 ($18.9) per hour. Discounts are available for multiple-hour packages or subscriptions by month or year.

Most users access the Need A Friend service from 5:00 pm to 4:00 am, with a diverse client base, though young people make up a significant portion.

In the second quarter of 2025, the company's customer base and revenue tripled compared to those in early 2025, reaching around VND20–30 million ($755-1,134) per month.

Gen Z earn money at night

Thanh Khoa, 29, living in An Phu Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, joked that he mainly sleeps in the daytime and works at night as he is focused on MMO (making money online), including online business and affiliate marketing.

His work is mainly done through phones and computers, on platforms like Amazon and TikTokshop, mostly targeting international customers in Europe and the U.S.

Another MMO model Khoa focuses on is dropshipping — selling products without holding inventory. 

He collaborates with factories to place orders, mainly clothing, and once there is an order, the factory directly ships the product to the customer. The factory handles order preparation and shipping.

Besides platform fees and manufacturing costs, Khoa also spends heavily on advertising. The biggest burden is the myriad fees on international platforms, from account and referral fees to shipping and order completion charges.

As a result, all profits depend on currency exchange margins.

For Ngoc Khai, 20, a design student in Ho Chi Minh City, nighttime is when he does freelance design work.

The reason is simple — as a second-year university student, daytime is reserved for studying. But the main reason is that most of his clients are based in Europe.

Khai sometimes has to go to Internet shops to work through the night. "My night is my clients' daytime — if they're online at a certain hour, I have to be online as well," Khai laughed.

Having been involved in graphic, fashion and interior design from an early age, Khai has built a steady base of international clients. Before artificial intelligence (AI) became widely used, he was consistently overloaded with orders. With the rise of AI, orders have decreased.

Nevertheless, Khai remains confident, having found his own path.

He sees late-night work as a normal trend among Gen Z. His generation uses AI platforms to sketch ideas, suggest colors, and arrange layouts more quickly, allowing more time to focus on creativity and aesthetic direction.

Khai and many other Gen Zers say they are doing well with their nighttime work.

Many services bloom at night

Besides niche services like late-night chat or counseling, many people say in today's digital era, a wide range of services now flourish at night — sometimes more effectively than during the day.

Thu Suong in Ho Chi Minh City shared that she has to sit at her desk and stay glued to her phone from 8:00 pm until late. For about five months now, she has been working as an affiliate marketer on TikTok Shop and Shopee.

The job is simple. With a social media account that meets minimum follower requirements, she partners with online shops to promote their products. Her task is to post sales links or redirect traffic to shop websites or homepages.

Later, she also started creating videos, describing products, and attaching shopping cart links. Whenever someone clicks to purchase or even just visits the shop, she earns a commission.

She explained that nighttime (from 8:00 pm onward) is when more people are online, especially Gen Z users hunting for sales.

"Normally, I earn around VND10 million [$378] per month. If I'm lucky, I get 15–20 million [$567-756]," Suong shared.