The Vietnamese Government says it will reduce the Public Service by 4,000 workers with a freeze on new hiring as the nation struggles to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan, announced by Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc would reduce the Government workforce to 249,650 by early next year — 247,344 workers in State Agencies and administrative organisations, and the rest in diplomatic missions abroad, other entities and the Public Service Reserves.
This comes after pre-pandemic instructions for all Government offices to reduce their staff by 1.5 to two per cent a year for the next five years.
Mr Nguyen said Central and Local Agencies should make sure that only key employees were retained.
In June, Parliament deferred a scheduled 7.4 per cent wage increase for Public Servants as the pandemic began to bite. The increase would have brought the monthly base for an average public employee to 1.6 million dong ($A96).
In the private sector, the pandemic has caused 31.8 million workers aged 15 and above to either lose their jobs or have their working hours reduced.
This has resulted in the labour force shrinking by 1.2 million workers to 54.4 million in the January-to-September period.
The General Statistics Office said 14 per cent had lost their jobs, while others had their salaries or working hours reduced or had to take unpaid leave.
Vietnam has suspended international flights and halted foreign arrivals since late March.
While a few international flights have resumed, the country remains closed to foreign tourists.
Hanoi, 10 October 2020
