56% is not just a technical number
In the submission of the draft Decree adjusting the base salary and bonus regime for cadres, civil servants, public employees and armed forces, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the current base salary is 2.34 million VND/month, only equivalent to about 56% of the regional minimum wage average of the business sector.
This agency proposes to adjust the base salary to 2.53 million VND/month, applied from July 1, 2026.
Discussing this content, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Van Trung - Department of Public Management, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Economics and Law (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) said that the fact that the base salary only reaches about 56% of the regional minimum wage average of the business sector is not just a technical figure, but quite clearly reflects the nature and limitations of the current public sector salary policy.
He analyzed that in a market economy, wages tend to be linked to labor supply and demand and productivity. However, wages in the public sector are still significantly lower than in the business sector.
This shows that the current salary policy in the public sector has not really operated according to the market mechanism, and is still administrative and subsidized.
In particular, according to him, this situation also does not ensure the goal of salary reform. According to the reform orientation: Public sector salaries must ensure a living standard close to or higher than the minimum level of enterprises, but in reality only reach about 56%. This reflects a reality that the gap between policy goals and implementation is still large.
The regional minimum wage is already the "floor" of the market, when the base salary is much lower, the income of civil servants (especially newcomers) is difficult to meet basic living needs.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Van Trung, compared to the business sector, the public sector has lower salaries and fewer opportunities to increase income. This reflects that the current salary policy in our country is not competitive enough to attract and retain high-quality human resources.
He assessed that salary reform is still at a "transitional" stage. Besides, there are differences in the salary payment mechanism. The public sector applies the formula of a salary coefficient multiplied by the base salary, while the business sector pays salaries according to the market and work efficiency.
The 56% gap is not just "less money", but a difference in the pay model" - he said.
Promoting salary reform
According to experts, the fact that the base salary only reaches about 56% of the regional average minimum wage of the business sector shows that salary reform is still in a transitional phase and needs to be further promoted in the coming time.
Dr. Nguyen Tien Dinh - former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs - said that the study of paying salaries to cadres, civil servants, and public employees according to job positions is not a new issue but has been discussed for many years.
He cited Resolution 27 of 2018 of the Central Executive Committee on salary policy reform which oriented the construction of a new salary scale system according to job positions, titles and leadership positions to replace the current salary scale system.
Mr. Dinh also emphasized that paying salaries according to job positions and titles is a scientific approach, the whole world is doing it, but the most important thing is the implementation method. Accurate job position determination will be the basis for standard staffing.
