Ministry of Home Affairs requests the implementation of salary policy reform according to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW to address the resignation and termination situations of officials and public employees

According to the anticipated agenda for the Fourth Session of the 15th National Assembly, on the afternoon of November 4, 2022, and the morning of November 5, 2022, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra will answer questions from National Assembly deputies regarding four groups of issues related to Home Affairs. Among these is an issue of great concern to voters and the public: the increasing number of officials and public employees resigning in recent times, especially in densely populated areas with high work pressure (such as healthcare public employees).

Regarding this issue, on October 28, the Ministry of Home Affairs submitted a report to the National Assembly deputies, clarifying the situation of officials and public employees resigning, the causes, and proposed short-term and long-term solutions.

STATUS OF OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RESIGNING, TERMINATING EMPLOYMENT

The number of officials and public employees resigning is higher at the local level than in ministries and departments

From January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022, the number of officials and public employees resigning and terminating employment was 39,552, accounting for 1.94% of the total assigned workforce.

Specifically, in ministries and departments, there were 7,102 individuals, accounting for 17.96% (1,505 officials and 5,597 public employees), while localities saw 32,450 individuals, accounting for 82.04% (2,524 officials and 29,926 public employees).

By qualification: There were 653 PhDs, 4,018 Master's degree holders, 19,637 bachelor's degree holders, 6,027 with college degrees, 6,972 with intermediate qualifications, and 1,046 with primary qualifications.

By age: There were 25,617 individuals aged 40 and below, 7,861 individuals aged 41 to 50, and 6,074 individuals over 50.

The above statistics show that the rate of officials and public employees resigning at the local level is higher than in ministries and departments, with the majority being public employees in the education and healthcare sectors. Specifically:

Education and training sector saw 16,427 resignations, accounting for 41.53% (2,087 in ministries and departments and 14,340 in localities).

Among them, 63% had university qualifications or higher, and 60.98% were aged 40 and below.

Healthcare sector saw 12,198 resignations, accounting for 30.84% (1,015 in ministries and departments and 11,183 in localities).

Among them, 53.63% had university qualifications or higher, and 74.71% were aged 40 and below.

Thus, it can be seen that the majority of those resigning are public employees primarily concentrated in major provinces and cities with fast economic development (with many industrial and economic zones); urban areas with a developed non-state public service system offering many job opportunities; and individuals aged 40 and below with university, college qualifications or higher.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the resignation and job transfer trend among officials and public employees in recent times also follows the positive "enter-exit mechanism" of the market.

Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra: The resignation and job transfer trend in the public sector in recent times needs to be viewed from two perspectives.

The public sector remains attractive and competitive in terms of human resource recruitment

According to the reports from 23 ministries and central authorities and 63 localities, during the period from 2020 to the first half of 2022, they recruited 143,961 officials and public employees (18,857 officials and 125,104 public employees). Among them, there were 74,495 education public employees and 38,147 healthcare public employees.

The above data indicates that the public sector remains attractive, highly competitive, and capable of attracting human resources, ensuring the prompt replacement of resigning officials and public employees, meeting the requirements of tasks, and improving the quality and efficiency of the activities of agencies, organizations, and units within the political system.

From the issues mentioned above, the situation of resignations and job transfers in the public sector needs to be viewed from two perspectives:

First, this movement is part of the nation's socio-economic development and is the "division of labor" according to market rules. It provides an opportunity for new recruitment (replacement), restructuring, and improving the quality of the official public employee workforce;

Second, this movement also requires a serious review of the limitations and inadequacies of the management mechanisms for officials and public employees to make appropriate amendments, thereby creating motivation to encourage employees to work enthusiastically for the organization.

CAUSES OF OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RESIGNING, TERMINATING EMPLOYMENT

Regarding objective causes, the Ministry of Home Affairs states: The development of the market economy requires the creation and synchronous development of various types of markets, including the labor market.

When the labor market develops, it requires connectivity between urban and rural areas, the public and private sectors, domestic and international areas.

In recent years, there has been labor migration between regions (from rural to urban areas, labor export, from the public sector to the private sector and vice versa) to meet the supply and demand of the labor market.

This includes officials and public employees who resign or terminate employment in the public sector to work in the private sector to align with their trained specialties or desire to change their working environment,...

Moreover, the autonomy mechanism and private investment in public service and public service activities have created opportunities for public employees in public service providers to have more job opportunities, resulting in frequent "in-out" labor movement between public and non-public sectors, creating healthy competition according to the labor supply-demand relationship between the public and private sectors.

The Ministry of Home Affairs notes that this phenomenon is also occurring in developed countries such as the UK, France, the USA, Canada, Singapore,...

Regarding subjective causes of the resignations and terminations of officials and public employees, the Ministry of Home Affairs states: The salaries and incomes of officials and public employees are still low compared to the incomes of workers with similar qualifications working in state-owned enterprises, the private sector, and foreign-invested sectors.

Some agencies, organizations, and units have not paid adequate attention to building a planning process for a team of top specialists in each field, causing some officials and public employees to lack a clear direction for professional and skill development and leading them to lose their knowledge and experience, seeking to switch working environments to better opportunities.

The policy of reducing staff quotas according to the Communist Party and State's regulations has forced many agencies, organizations, and units to downsize, but the workload continues to increase due to practical demands, resulting in overloads and high pressure (e.g., in education and health sectors).

Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, healthcare staff faced significant and dangerous work pressures; teaching staff had to adapt to new teaching methods amidst insufficient equipment and infrastructure.

Working conditions in many public sector units and localities have not truly motivated contributions and provided opportunities for officials and public employees to fully display their capabilities.

The political and ideological education for officials and public employees has not been effectively managed, failing to instill confidence in their public sector roles.

Furthermore, there are personal reasons that lead to resignations, such as health issues, a desire to change career direction or objectives, seeking better working environments, and some facing risks in performing their duties due to legal framework inadequacies pending improvement.

This suggests that state management agencies need to objectively and impartially address this issue, viewing it as both an opportunity and a challenge to perfect policies, management mechanisms, and effectively organize and utilize the officials and public employees workforce, improving working environments and restructuring to enhance the quality of officials and public employees in the context of developing a socialist-oriented market economy.

Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra: Prioritize promptly providing material support to officials and public employees in difficult circumstances, especially those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME THE SITUATION OF OFFICIALS AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RESIGNING AND TERMINATING EMPLOYMENT

To address the situation of officials and public employees resigning and terminating employment in the short term, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposes three solutions:

First, conduct good ideological work and motivate officials and public employees working in high-intensity, high-pressure positions to feel secure in their jobs.

Concurrently, implement scientific labor organization measures to ensure both physical and mental health as well as improving working environments, thus enabling officials and public employees to feel secure in their roles.

Second, prioritize promptly providing material support to officials and public employees facing difficult circumstances, especially those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Third, economically developed localities should implement suitable policies to support officials and public employees, in addition to the general salary policies.

In the long term, the Ministry of Home Affairs identifies six solutions to address the situation of officials and public employees resigning and terminating employment:

First, propose the competent authorities and the National Assembly to implement wage policy reform to increase the income of officials and public employees in line with Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW dated May 21, 2018, of the Seventh Plenum of the 12th Central Committee.*

Second, continue reforming the organizational structure and staffing, streamlining the workforce in conjunction with restructuring the official and public employee ranks according to job positions, and enhancing workforce quality tied to reforms in salary, remuneration, and welfare policies for officials and public employees.

Third, focus on innovating the organizational and management systems, improving the quality and efficiency of public service units as a top priority to ensure they maintain a pivotal role in the public service market while enhancing access and service quality for all social strata; further promote the autonomy mechanism, creating conditions to improve income for public employees, especially in education and healthcare sectors.

Fourth, review and adjust the institutional and policy frameworks for recruitment, utilization, management, training, education, planning, and allocation of officials and public employees; develop policies to attract and employ talented individuals and experts for state agencies and public service providers.

Fifth, build a leadership and management team with genuine virtue, qualifications, capacity, and credibility to inspire trust among officials and public employees; perfect mechanisms that encourage officials to innovate, take initiative, and make breakthroughs for common benefits.

Sixth, create a dynamic, fair, democratic, friendly, united, professional, and modern work environment with mechanisms that stimulate officials and public employees to demonstrate their capabilities, responsibility, dedication, and passion for their work; simultaneously enhance political and ideological education to instill job security confidence in officials and public employees; focus on building a positive public image, honor, and social reputation for the public sector agencies./.

According to the Government of Vietnam's electronic information portal

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