Hoang Minh Hieu, a National Assembly deputy from Nghe An, said he was concerned about the brain drain in the public sector, noting that thousands of cadres, civil servants and public employees have left the private sector.  The figure dropped in 2023, but was still high (11,000).

The public sector appears to have failed to attract talents despite a lot of efforts. Some cities/provinces reported that though localities are offering attractive treatment, they still have not been able to attract talented staff over the last five years.

According to Hieu, when mentioning the policy on attracting high-quality graduates, students immediately raise questions about salaries. The current salaries offered to new graduates are not high enough to rent a house in large cities. A student said VND5 million is not enough to buy a pair of tickets to a concert.

Hieu commented that there are two major trends for new university graduates. They want to stay in large cities where they can find better job opportunities. And they prefer working in the private sector as they can expect higher salaries.

“Talents can make contribution to the development of the society, no matter where they work – public and private sector. It is true. However, if the public sector is not cared for, this will have a big impact on the socio-economic situation,” he warned.

“The shortcomings in the institutional regime remain the bottlenecks. If there are no good policymakers or if management agencies design unreasonable policies, this will have an impact on the entire society,” Hieu concluded.

Tran Hoang Ngan, a National Assembly deputy from HCM City noted that the government has proposed not raising salaries in 2025 for officers in the public sector, and pensions and allowances as well.

“It is necessary to pay attention to salaries in the educational sector, especially for teachers in remote areas, and salaries for medical workers,” Ngan said. "And the pensions are very low."

“Though the government doesn’t raise wages for public officers this year, it still needs to increase pensions and social allowances and preferential subsidies for people with meritorious services."

Ngan also urged to reconsider the personal income tax law. The current taxation threshold of VND11 million for taxpayers and VND4.4 million for dependent individuals is too low for urbanites. 

“Only when the taxation threshold is raised will people have more money which will encourage them to spend money on consumer goods, thereby supporting growth,” Ngan suggested.

Tran Thuong