Many people fall into a state of "foot inside, foot outside".
In the submission of the draft Decree adjusting the base salary and bonus regime for cadres, civil servants, public employees (CBCCVC) and armed forces, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the current base salary is 2.34 million VND/month, equivalent to about 56% of the regional average minimum wage of the business sector.
This agency proposes to adjust the base salary to 2.53 million VND/month, applied from July 1, 2026.
Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu - Institute of Training and Advanced Research of Ho Chi Minh City (IFP), said that the current base salary level only equivalent to 56% of the regional average minimum wage of the business sector creates a large income gap between the public and private sectors.
According to her, this directly affects the psychology and level of attachment of CBCCVC in three directions.
The first is the psychology of comparison and lack of security when income does not guarantee the minimum living standard, causing many people to fall into a state of "inner and outer legs", difficult to wholeheartedly focus on work due to life pressure.
The second is the decline in attachment when the income gap is too large, causing the public sector to gradually lose its competitive advantage in personnel.
Third is the risk of "brain drain", especially in fields such as healthcare, education, and information technology, when capable personnel tend to shift to the private sector - where labor is paid closer to market value.
According to Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu, to retain personnel in the current context, the story is not only about salaries but also needs a comprehensive solution including income, working environment, development opportunities and appropriate recognition mechanisms.
Salary payment mechanism reform
Regarding the proposal to increase the base salary to 2.53 million VND/month from July 1, 2026, Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu assessed that this is a commendable effort of the Government to narrow the income gap between the public and private sectors.
However, this increase is mainly meant to help compensate for some of the price slippage and slightly improve living standards, but has not created a breakthrough in income.
For young workers and capable people, she believes that wages are only part of the problem of retaining personnel. Young people today not only compare absolute income but also care about the rate of income growth, career development opportunities and the level of fairness in treatment.
While the private sector is increasingly flexible in terms of salaries, bonuses, benefits and working environment, the public sector still has many binding mechanisms, so it faces many challenges in personnel competition.
Accordingly, in addition to increasing the base salary, it is necessary to simultaneously reform the salary payment mechanism according to work efficiency. From there, people with outstanding abilities will enjoy commensurate benefits instead of being heavily dependent on seniority or hard coefficients.
It is necessary to create clear career development opportunities for young people, because many talented personnel leave the public sector not necessarily because of low salaries but due to lack of innovation environment or transparent promotion roadmaps" - Dr. Nguyen Thuy Vu shared.
In addition, it is also necessary to pay more attention to practical welfare policies such as housing support, health care, digital skills training and improving technological capacity for workers.
At the same time, it is necessary to build a transparent working environment, reduce unnecessary administrative pressure and increase recognition of their contributions to create long-term commitment motivation.
