VietNamNet Bridge - Opening the door and allowing talented individuals to move from state agencies to the private sector will lead to a ‘brain drain’ and trigger a ‘battle for talent’, experts have warned.

Da Nang has been warned of 'battle for talents'

After 14 years of implementing the high-quality human resources development plan (Program 922), Da Nang has spent nearly VND1 trillion to train 616 talented people.

However, the plan did not succeed as expected. As many as 93 talents quit the program, 32 were sued for breaking commitments, and many trainees were found not meeting requirements as ‘talents’ but were still sent to training courses.

Vo Kim Son from the National Academy of Public Administration raised four questions about the program. 

First, were the individuals in Da Nang chosen and sent to training courses really talented people? Second, what did Da Nang target to when sending the individuals abroad, and what did they study?

Third, how did Da Nang treat the talents when they came back? Did they get jobs in the majors and did the salaries satisfy them? Fourth, was the pay good enough to retain talents?

While experts are still arguing about the feasibility and effectiveness of Program 922, Da Nang authorities are considering a new policy – allowing trainees to move from state agencies to the private sector.

Son said this is just an attempt by Da Nang to correct their faults and it may bring even more serious consequences. If Da Nang applies the policy, it will become barehanded and lose everything, he said.

“If so, Da Nang is likely to lose hundreds of billions of dong for training, but it won’t have talents, because real talents will leave, while less capable individuals will stay,” Son said.

The expert doesn’t believe that the policy will help Da Nang drive less talented individuals from the public sector to the private sector.

“Private businesses only accept real talents who are useful. They won’t accept someone just because he finishes a foreign school,” Son said. “Therefore, even if Da Nang doesn’t open the door and allow trainees to move to the private sector, they will still be able to recruit talents.”

Mac Van Tien, director of the Research Institute for Vocational Sciences, also doesn’t think this is a good idea.

“I don’t know any country in the world which trains talents with the state’s money and then gives the talents to the private sector for use,” he commented.

Regarding the ‘battle for talent’, Son said Da Nang would have to compete fiercely with private businesses to retain talents. It may have to offer pay 10-20 times higher than the current pay to gain this goal.

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