Vietnam aims to cut 2 percent of government jobs every year

• Vietnam to give public sector 7.4 percent wage raise next year
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Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered government offices to reduce their staff by between 1.5 and 2 percent every year over the next five years.

Central and local agencies need to review their payroll and make sure that only vital employees are kept, according to a statement on the government’s news site.

Hiring new staff members or opening new agencies should be restricted, and may only be considered in the healthcare and education sectors.

Vietnam’s government, struggling with a huge budget deficit, is taking strong measures to slim its workforce to balance the budget.

The country cut more than 10,000 civil service jobs in the first half of 2016, or nearly 0.4 percent of the 2.6 million positions on the government payroll, the Vietnam News Agency reported. Another 6,000 posts were removed in 2015.

Vietnam’s legislators have also said that leaner organizational structures will also make it easier for the country to raise wages for the public sector.

Many in the public sector have for years complained about their low income. Vietnam will raise the sector's basic wage by 7 percent in July, from the current VND1.21 million ($54) a month to VND1.3 million ($58).

In Vietnam, the minimum monthly pay for civil servants and public employees is calculated by multiplying that basic level with a coefficient determined by qualifications and experience. The coefficient for a new subdistrict-level civil servant with a bachelor’s degree, for example, is 2.34.

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