Public workforce to be cut 10% by 2021

The order comes as part of a decision recently signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to reform the public-employee structure in the next seven years.

Dung has said the public-employee reform was designed to improve the effectiveness of state management and reduce the financial burden on the State budget.

The decision limits the number of newly recruited public employees in State agencies to less than half of the number of an agency's retired employees each year.

Newly established public schools or hospitals, are an exception and are permitted to recruit more public employees. Their recruitment, however, should be strictly monitored.

Public non-business units that do earn revenues would be encouraged to pay 10% of their workforce salaries by 2021, the decision said.

Additionally, changes to employment practices allow public officers in commune, village or ward levels may hold two positions simultaneously.

Dung asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to co-operate with relevant agencies to supervise the decision's implementation at national and local levels.

In another decision issued on December 14, Prime Minister Dung required ministries, ministerial-level agencies, State agencies and State-owned enterprises to balance their budget to ensure adjustment of salaries and pensions.

Agencies were asked to raise public employees' basic salary rate from VND1.15 million (US$51) to VND1.21 million (US$53) starting May 1.

Dung said that they had to reduce their recurrent expenditures by at least 10% of their current level to pay for the wage reform.

For poor localities that could not afford wage reform solely on recurrent-expenditure reduction, the Ministry of Finance would consider offering financial support, he said.