Eliminate the mindset of lifelong employment.

At the ninth session of the 15th National Assembly on May 7th, information that received special attention from officials, civil servants, and the public was that Vietnam will resolutely eliminate incompetent civil servants and completely eradicate the mindset of lifelong employment.

1. At the ninth session of the 15th National Assembly on May 7th, information that received special attention from officials, civil servants, and the public was that our country will resolutely eliminate incompetent civil servants and completely eradicate the mindset of lifelong employment.

Specifically, presenting the draft Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended), Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra stated that the draft Law amends and supplements regulations to improve the effectiveness of evaluating, utilizing, and screening cadres and civil servants; and adds mechanisms to eliminate the mindset of lifelong employment and enhance administrative discipline and order.

"Lifetime employment" refers to long-term positions where employees sign indefinite employment contracts with state agencies and public service units, and receive salaries and allowances as prescribed by regulations.

Objectively speaking, lifetime employment has positive aspects, such as creating stability in mindset and allowing officials, civil servants, and workers to work with peace of mind and dedicate their labor. However, it also has significant downsides, creating psychological inertia and stagnation in work. In reality, with the mindset of lifetime employment, a segment of officials and civil servants do not worry about being dismissed, thus lacking motivation to strive, being unwilling to innovate, working without enthusiasm, and merely going through the motions, only demanding benefits and sometimes even resisting and hindering development. Furthermore, lifetime employment also makes it difficult to streamline the workforce and remove incompetent and unqualified individuals, as well as to attract, value, and retain truly talented people...

Eliminating the mindset of lifelong employment is a direction consistent with development requirements, ensuring the principle of using the right person for the right job, maximizing the capabilities of cadres and civil servants, while simultaneously filtering out those who do not meet the job requirements. The Party and State have adopted a policy and direction to gradually abolish lifelong employment. Resolution No. 7 of the 12th Central Committee Conference on focusing on building a contingent of cadres at all levels, especially at the strategic level, with sufficient qualities, capabilities, and prestige, commensurate with the tasks, clearly states: Restructuring and rearranging the contingent of cadres at all levels and in all sectors according to job positions and competency frameworks, ensuring the right person for the right job, reducing the number, improving quality, and rationalizing the structure...; establishing a mechanism for competition for job positions to improve the quality of cadres, civil servants, and public employees, and moving towards abolishing the "lifetime employment" system. The amended Law on Cadres and Civil Servants and the Law on Public Employees, effective from July 1, 2020, stipulates that public employees recruited from July 1, 2020 onwards will have to sign fixed-term contracts. This means that newly recruited individuals must sign fixed-term contracts and will no longer be entitled to lifetime employment.

2. Because they don't worry about being dismissed, many officials and civil servants become complacent, lazy, stagnant, and dependent in their work. This "entry into the civil service without exit" mentality makes the state apparatus cumbersome, costly, and inefficient!

Since July 2020, Vietnam has abolished lifetime employment for civil servants; new recruits to the state sector only have fixed-term contracts. However, many people still believe that working in a state agency provides a stable job. Therefore, eliminating this mindset is extremely important. This is a groundbreaking solution to improve the quality of civil servants and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the government apparatus at all levels.

Furthermore, by abolishing lifetime tenure for civil servants and public employees, we will reduce recurring expenses and simultaneously achieve the long-standing goal of streamlining the workforce.

By adding mechanisms to eliminate the mindset of lifelong employment, the draft Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (amended) continues to institutionalize the Party's policies and orientations on public service and cadres and civil servants; concretizing the requirement to streamline the workforce in a substantive way, screening and removing civil servants who do not fulfill their duties. This will create a synchronized legal framework, modernizing civil servant management in a transparent and efficient manner. Therefore, we need to actively promote, disseminate, and raise awareness among all levels, sectors, units, and the team of cadres and civil servants about eliminating the mindset of lifelong employment. In particular, it is necessary to enhance the awareness and responsibility of leaders in managing, evaluating, and utilizing civil servants according to their abilities and job positions...

The Party and State are carrying out a revolution in streamlining the organizational structure of the political system, coupled with restructuring and improving the quality of cadres, civil servants, and public employees to ensure they possess sufficient qualities and capabilities. It is projected that, after the restructuring, the provincial level will reduce more than 18,440 cadre and civil servant positions compared to the number allocated by competent authorities in 2022; the commune level will reduce more than 110,780 cadre and civil servant positions compared to the total number at the district and commune levels; and approximately 120,500 non-specialized personnel at the commune level nationwide will cease working. With determination and decisive action, we can be confident that civil servants will have a system of entry and exit. Without the mindset of lifelong employment, civil servants will certainly work with a high sense of responsibility, dynamism, creativity, and a willingness to think and act for the common good. The state apparatus will operate efficiently to lead the country into a new era, an era of national development and prosperity.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/xoa-bo-tu-duy-bien-che-suot-doi-701773.html