As of December 31, 2024, Vietnam had over 212,600 commune-level officials and civil servants, with 92.4% holding university degrees or higher, and only 7.6% possessing qualifications of college level or below, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Officials who do not meet qualification standards represent a small portion of the total workforce and will be addressed through existing government policies that ensure their legitimate rights are protected.

Previously, the draft amendment to the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants proposed eliminating distinctions between commune-level and higher-level civil servants (provincial and central).

Article 53 of the draft law stipulates that, from the date the amended law takes effect, all commune-level officials and civil servants - as defined under the 2008 Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended in 2019) -will retain their current staffing numbers. This status will remain until local governments complete workforce review, streamlining, restructuring, and reallocation based on approved job-position schemes.

These individuals will also have their current salary levels preserved until they are reassigned to new positions under government regulations.

Over a five-year period, provinces and centrally governed cities must restructure and streamline their local government workforce according to the approved job-position plans. The government will issue a gradual roadmap to implement a position-based management system during this five-year period.

During this time, recruitment, management, and utilization of civil servants will continue to follow current government regulations.

According to the Politburo’s national reform directive, Vietnam is expected to merge several provinces, reducing the total to 34 provinces and municipalities and more than 3,000 commune-level administrative units. Additionally, the country will no longer have the current 696 district-level units.

The new model of local governance will be structured into two levels: the provincial level (including centrally-run cities) and the grassroots level, comprising communes, wards, and special island zones.

Nguyen Thao