One of the key tasks of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the second quarter of 2026 is to complete the preliminary review of the implementation of the Central Resolution on salary reform (CCTL) and social insurance.
The CCTL roadmap is expected to focus on building 5 new salary scales by target group, perfecting the regime of allowances, bonuses, regulations on salary grade promotion and linking income management with work efficiency in the spirit of Resolution 27-NQ/TW.
According to experts, CCTL is not only aimed at increasing income but also creating motivation to retain workers in the public sector, especially high-quality personnel.
Discussing this issue, Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu - Institute of Training and Development of Ho Chi Minh City (IFP) - said that for workers not only to "survive" but also to truly "confidently engage and contribute" for the long term to the public sector, wage increases are only a necessary condition.
According to her, in the context of CCTL in 2026, more breakthrough solutions in culture, working environment, development opportunities and personal value enhancement are needed to retain talent.
According to experts, it is necessary to establish a mechanism to pay salaries according to job positions and output results instead of increasing salaries uniformly. In which, there needs to be a large enough bonus fund for people with initiatives and outstanding achievements; and apply appropriate allowance coefficients for positions requiring high expertise, high pressure or working in remote and isolated areas.
She emphasized the development of a transparent promotion roadmap, expanding the mechanism for competitive examination for leadership and management positions, and increasing investment in in-depth training, international certificates, or foreign training opportunities to enhance the professional value of workers.
In addition, experts believe that it is necessary to improve the working environment through "digital culture", promote digitalization of processes, reduce administrative pressure and create space for young people to contribute opinions, to experiment and to be creative. According to her, recognition of spirit sometimes has a greater value to retain than material things.
In addition to salaries, Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu proposed increasing "soft benefits" such as support for social housing, health insurance, and education policies for children of civil servants and public employees.
Experts also proposed to allow the application of a special income mechanism for some sectors that are lacking human resources such as healthcare, information technology, digital transformation, public finance and high-quality education; and at the same time build a "talent retention fund" for leading experts or personnel participating in key projects.
According to Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu, the public sector also needs to study flexible contract mechanisms with high-quality personnel instead of completely relying on the traditional administrative salary framework. This both helps attract human resources from the private sector and creates pressure for innovation in the apparatus.
Many public sector workers are under great pressure regarding housing, childcare costs and elderly parental care. Therefore, if these social security burdens are addressed, the effectiveness of retaining workers may be greater than wage increases," she said.
Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu emphasized that many talented people leave the public sector not entirely because of low salaries but because of lack of opportunities to contribute and innovate. Therefore, it is important to build a transparent working environment.
