Prime Minister: Continue to reform wages in the business sector

The Government leader requested that in 2024, salary reform in the non-state sector be continued and social security and improvement of people's material and spiritual life be ensured.

Concluding the Government conference with localities on January 5, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave the above instructions and assigned units to implement public sector salary reform according to Resolution 27 of the Central Committee from the middle of this year. "In all circumstances, we must do a good job of social security work, especially when it affects the poor, vulnerable groups, people in remote areas, border areas, and islands," the Prime Minister noted.

Current enterprise sector wages are mainly adjusted through the regional minimum wage - the lowest wage that enterprises pay to workers doing the simplest work under normal conditions. Current wages range from 3.25 to 4.68 million VND, depending on the region.

For more than 10 years, the minimum wage has been adjusted on January 1 every year to ensure the minimum living standards of workers and their families as well as socio -economic development conditions. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, economic crisis, and labor cuts, the next minimum wage adjustment will be in July. It is expected that the salary in region one will increase to VND4.96 million; region two will be VND4.41 million; region three will be VND3.86 million and region four will reach VND3.45 million.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Government conference with localities on January 5. Photo: Nhat Bac — Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Government conference with localities on January 5. Photo: *Nhat Bac*

According to statistics from the International Labor Organization in Vietnam, in the period 2015-2022, the Government adjusted the minimum wage with an upward trajectory, from 119 USD in December 2015 to 168 USD in December 2022. However, rising inflation has not increased the real value of the minimum wage much. In the period 2015-2019, the nominal minimum wage increased by 42.7%, but inflation caused the real wage to increase by only 20.1%. In the period 2020-2022, the minimum wage was adjusted by over 6%, but the real wage increased by only 0.7%.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor's survey on working life in the first half of 2023 showed that the average income of workers reached 7.88 million VND, while their family's monthly spending was 11.7 million VND. Income only met about 70% of the spending of the surveyed people. Workers' spending also increased by 19% compared to 2022, mainly due to high prices and electricity and water bills.

Viet Tuan

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