Increase salaries to retain talent
In the discussion sessions on socio-economics at the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly, salaries and benefits for cadres, civil servants and public employees were of interest and discussion by many delegates.
Speaking to the National Assembly on the afternoon of October 30, delegate Nguyen Van Than (Hung Yen delegation) gave the figure, if the GDP per capita in Vietnam is 7,000 USD/year and the exchange rate is 26,000 VND/USD, the average monthly income per capita will be equivalent to about 15 million VND.
The delegate said that it is necessary to set an average monthly income of civil servants and public employees of 15 million VND or more.
" Private enterprises are willing to pay a salary of 50 million a month for new graduates in technology, or even 100 - 200 million. Therefore, increasing salaries for civil servants and public employees is mandatory" - the delegate said.
Mr. Than said that there should be mechanisms and policies to retain good cadres, civil servants, and public employees who work actively in the State apparatus. In particular, salary policy needs to be given first attention, because only when they have enough finances to take care of a stable family life, can they focus on work.
"The salaries of the current team of cadres, civil servants and public employees have increased but are not guaranteed. I strongly suggest that the National Assembly try to study how to increase salaries for this team because if not done, it will lose good workers" - delegate Nguyen Van Than said.
Proposal to increase basic salary from January 1, 2026
Sharing the same concern for the income of the team of cadres, civil servants and public employees, speaking before, delegate Tran Quoc Tuan (Vinh Long Delegation) acknowledged that after nearly 4 months since the official implementation of the 2-level local government model, the administrative apparatus has become lighter in terms of focal points but heavier in terms of work.
According to him, currently, cadres and civil servants in many localities, especially at the grassroots level, have to work far away, do more work but their income is still not better. Voters reported that due to increased travel, rental and living expenses, real income has decreased by 10 to 12% compared to before. Meanwhile, the grassroots staff is having to carry more work due to staff streamlining but their income has not improved, affecting their psychology, motivation and work efficiency.
"The basic salary of 2.34 million VND/month has been applied from July 1, 2024 to present and if compared to the current living price level, it is clearly no longer suitable. On average, the minimum living expenses, food, transportation, electricity, water, and tuition fees for children in urban areas alone have exceeded 4.5 to 5 million VND/person/month.
With a basic salary of 2.34 million VND, even if multiplied by a higher coefficient, the actual income of many young civil servants is only enough from the beginning of the month to the 20th of the month, and the last 10 days of the month must run with confidence and bread and bags" - the delegate said.
From the above analysis, delegate Tran Quoc Tuan proposed that the National Assembly and the Government consider adjusting the increase in the basic salary from January 1, 2026, not waiting until the middle of the year as in previous stages. This will help improve the lives of cadres, which is improving the quality of the apparatus.
