Commenting about Resolution 18 on streamlining and reorganizing the apparatus, Bui Sy Loi, former deputy chair of the National Assembly's Committee for Social Affairs, said this is a must to create a new driving force for the country to develop. However, the process will pose great challenges. 

There are two problems that need to be addressed when downsizing staff. First, changing the awareness of the entire political system, labor force, officials, and civil servants, and making them understand that streamlining is unavoidable.

Second, the streamlining needs to be carried out based on optimal principles to avoid inequality, dissent, and social conflict. It is important that those who have to leave will not feel disadvantaged or dissatisfied.

When the personnel are cut, many officers will have to leave and become redundant. The state needs to give support to these officers, so that they can adapt to new circumstances and find new jobs.

For those with less than five years of service left, there should be policies that encourage early retirement with the spirit of "leaving early to make room for others".

In this case, the state should implement flexible retirement policies. For example, they should be given 100 percent of pension despite early retirement. The state could also consider paying an allowance to help redundant workers continue normal lives after leaving state agencies.

In many cases, officers retire early, but they still have good health to continue working. They should be given support to continue working and devote themselves to society.

For those with 10-15 years of service left, they should be given certain amounts of money as an allowance. In addition to short-term allowance in cash, the subjects should also be given long-term support by lending money to do business.

Retaining talents

Streamlining apparatus is very difficult because it touches upon people’s emotions and desires, and affects the interests of many people. Therefore, careless implementation could lead to difficulties for those who become redundant.

At many state agencies, cadres may excel in rhetoric but underperform in practice. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully assess cadres’ capability to retain talents and allow them to continue working to devote themselves to agencies and society.

If talents are placed in right positions, they will be able to promote their capability and make great contributions to the organizations where they work.

Retaining talents and capable cadres will also allow the apparatus to run smoothly. The brain drain, which may occur if talents’ capability cannot be property assessed, will make the apparatus operate ineffectively.

In the medical sector, for example, doctors can get very high pay in the labor market. And if the state doesn’t treat them well, they will leave public hospitals for private hospitals.

Therefore, the streamlining must be conducted in a transparent, fair, and democratic manner, to encourage unsuitable officers to leave and retain capable individuals. This process requires caution to prevent the potential departure of talented staff and the retention of incapable cadres.

The goal of streamlining is not cutting the number of cadres, but enhancing the quality of the workforce. Therefore, it is necessary to retain officers with outstanding qualifications.

In summary, streamlining the apparatus is a must, but it must be carefully planned and implemented with reasonable policies that prevent undue hardship for workers. 

Roadmap is needed

The Party's policy on streamlining the apparatus must not be regressive, yet it requires a timeline and method to ensure democratic and harmonious implementation, fostering social stability. Carelessness may cause discontent to those who have to leave, and therefore, turn them into a heavy burden on society and cause chaos.

A report released in August 2024 showed that 89,576 officers in public non-business units had been streamlined by the end of 2023 and received allowances. This included 73,245 officers retiring before retirement age (81.77 percent), 16,182 officers quitting jobs immediately (18.06 percent), 58 quitting jobs after vocational training (0.06 percent) and 91 moving to organizations that don’t receive salaries from the state budget (0.1 percent).

In 2021-2023, the number of officers receiving salaries from the state budget decreased by 11,021, down 9.22 percent compared with 2021.

Vu Diep