Open new doors for workers

The Party's policy on streamlining the political system's apparatus is widely supported by the people because this is a necessary revolution for the country to develop and must be done resolutely, without retreat. A number of cadres, civil servants and public employees in the government system have voluntarily resigned to do other suitable work, helping to reduce the pressure on the work of streamlining the apparatus.

In Thanh Hoa province, after implementing the restructuring and streamlining of the apparatus, in 2025, more than 300 civil servants, public employees and workers voluntarily registered to retire early to facilitate the restructuring and organization of the apparatus.

Ms. Le Hai Hung, former Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department, Lang Chanh District People's Committee (Thanh Hoa) voluntarily resigned nearly 10 years in advance to support the work of streamlining and streamlining the apparatus.

As the person who voluntarily wrote an application for early retirement when she had nearly 10 years of work left, Ms. Le Hai Hung, former Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department, Lang Chanh District People's Committee, said that Resolution 18 is a correct policy of the Party and the State. With the pioneering and exemplary spirit of a Party member, she herself found it appropriate, so she voluntarily wrote an application for retirement to create conditions for the young generation to have the conditions to contribute and the ability to break through to contribute to the development of the locality...

“The State is not the only place we rely on, but depending on our ability and strengths, we can find other directions and other fields such as business development, investment... to contribute and benefit the country. Wherever we go, we contribute and contribute, not necessarily working for the State. However, to avoid brain drain, we need to carefully screen and research each subject in the process of streamlining and rearranging,” Ms. Le Hai Hung shared.

In Nghe An, during the process of implementing the revolution of restructuring and streamlining the apparatus, many key leaders and officials of Party organizations, provincial, district and communal government agencies voluntarily applied for early retirement; among them, many leaders and managers still have 8-9 years of work, enough for 2 terms, and still have many opportunities to strive.

Mr. Ngo Quang Hung (born in 1972), Deputy Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Nam Dan District Party Committee (Nghe An), has submitted an application for early retirement. Mr. Hung will retire on April 1, 2025, 9 years and 9 months before the working age. As a cadre who has grown up from the grassroots, having spent more than 34 years working in various positions from mass organizations to government and Party organizations, Mr. Hung is confident that he can handle the new task well. However, he still decided to apply for retirement to create conditions for the organization to reorganize and streamline its apparatus after the merger.

"I think that my retirement is not a sacrifice, but the responsibility of a party member and a leader. Considering that I am qualified, I voluntarily step back "behind the scenes" to give development opportunities to younger, more capable, qualified cadres with conditions to develop and contribute better. I expect and trust that the person assigned to hold the new responsibility, the young successor team will create a breakthrough," Mr. Ngo Quang Hung confided.

Mr. Ngo Quang Hung, Deputy Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of Nam Dan District Party Committee (Nghe An) applied for early retirement despite having nearly 9 years of work left.

Initially, Nghe An province has effectively implemented the contents related to the arrangement and streamlining of the apparatus organization in the spirit of the Central Government "running while lining up", "The Central Government acts first and sets an example, the locality follows later and responds; the Central Government does not wait for the province, the province does not wait for the district, the district does not wait for the grassroots". Up to this point, Nghe An Department of Home Affairs has received 380 cases of early retirement according to Decree 178 proposed by departments, branches and localities.

Discussing the arrangement and streamlining of the apparatus, there will be a large number of workers who quit their jobs in the state sector and move to the private sector, Mr. Le Dinh Ly - Deputy Head of the Organization Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee said: Currently, the non-state sector is open, private economic businesses and services are developing strongly, which is also an opportunity for those who voluntarily quit to continue to participate and contribute to the development of the private and household economy.

Mr. Lai The Nguyen, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Thanh Hoa province.

Standing Deputy Secretary of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee Lai The Nguyen commented that in the current open labor market mechanism, it is clear that working in the State is not the last choice for a stable life. Working in non-State enterprises, private enterprises, and foreign enterprises currently has a very stable income, even very high, and many satisfactory benefits for workers.

According to Mr. Le Van Cuong (in Dong Cuong ward, Thanh Hoa city, Thanh Hoa province, a National Assembly delegate of the 11th and 12th terms), the resignation of cadres, civil servants and public employees to streamline the apparatus not only benefits the State but also meets the needs of today's society. After the streamlining, those who can do the job will stay in the state agency and perform better, those who cannot do the job will be eliminated from the "chain", the apparatus will operate effectively. Society benefits from restructuring the workforce. Because currently, many companies and enterprises need a lot of technical workers with management experience. In particular, in a multi-industry, multi-professional society, there will be many job opportunities for intellectuals.

Volunteer staff leave work early:

To facilitate the work of streamlining the apparatus according to Resolution 18, it is good for cadres, civil servants and public employees to voluntarily resign, however, authorities at all levels need to consider and evaluate specific capacities, to avoid brain drain - talented people quit, weak and opportunistic people find ways to stay.

According to Lai The Nguyen, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Thanh Hoa province, streamlining the apparatus can be said to be a major policy of the Party and State to build a streamlined apparatus that operates effectively, efficiently and effectively. During the implementation process, Thanh Hoa province has many advantages, the staff, civil servants and public employees have high consensus and many people are willing to resign according to the State's policy to facilitate the process of restructuring the apparatus.

Mr. Lai The Nguyen affirmed: The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee has requested heads of units to be responsible for thoroughly grasping and implementing, but at the same time, they must also listen to the thoughts and aspirations of workers. In particular, each case must be considered specifically. There are cases where employees are allowed to retire, but there are also cases where they are not allowed to retire. They must be retained to work if they still have time to work, are healthy, have expertise, have qualifications, have capacity and have good qualities to avoid the situation where we have a brain drain.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Director of Nghe An Department of Home Affairs, informed that Decree 178 regulating support policies for cadres who apply for early retirement is an "important support" for the revolution of streamlining and reorganizing the apparatus. Therefore, Nghe An province is drafting a set of criteria for evaluating civil servants and public employees as a basis for screening cadres.

Developing and promulgating these criteria is a very difficult task, while ensuring that they are consistent with reality and ensure fairness in evaluating staff. These are screening criteria, how to retain good staff and require the dismissal of weak staff while job requirements are increasingly high.

Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Duc Trung stated that if the revolution wants to be victorious and successful, there must be sacrifices and losses, this is inevitable.

Mr. Le Dinh Ly, Deputy Head of the Organizing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, assessed that the Party and State's policies, issued synchronously and strongly, have encouraged those who are eligible to voluntarily retire early. The fact that comrades requested early retirement not only creates favorable conditions for the organization in arranging cadres but also demonstrates the sense of responsibility, pioneering spirit, and exemplary role of Party members in implementing the Party's policies and the State's laws and policies towards the current revolution of streamlining the organizational apparatus.

Expressing his personal opinion, Mr. Le Dinh Ly said that, to avoid the situation of "brain drain", when implementing the arrangement and streamlining of the apparatus, agencies and organizations must select, encourage and motivate talented people, people with real capacity so that they can stay and continue to contribute and build strong agencies and units.

Emphasizing that the process of reorganizing and organizing the apparatus is a revolution, Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Duc Trung stated that if the revolution is to be victorious and successful, there must be sacrifices and losses, which are inevitable. Specifically, in the recent reorganization process, there were people who suffered disadvantages, from being leaders to being deputy leaders, and many leaders asked to retire early.
The Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee also requested that in the process of perfecting the organizational apparatus, especially in the arrangement of cadres, it is necessary to ensure publicity, democracy, transparency, and determine the selection of people to arrange cadres. In the spirit of retaining capable and experienced cadres, not allowing brain drain, not allowing complicated problems to occur, causing internal disunity, affecting the common work.

“The process of organizing the apparatus and assigning cadres must be fair and objective in the spirit of “choosing people”, not allowing “brain drain”, not allowing complicated internal problems to arise”, emphasized Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Duc Trung.

Currently, the State has issued decrees clearly stipulating support policies for cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers who apply for early retirement. However, authorities at all levels need to provide timely, appropriate, and sufficient support, with good mechanisms for job transition to encourage this group to feel secure, stabilize their lives, and contribute to society.

According to the report of the Department of Home Affairs of Ha Tinh province, in 2025, from the arrangement and streamlining of the district-level apparatus and provincial-level departments, hundreds of cadres and party members applied for early retirement. In particular, promoting the pioneering and exemplary role, contributing to the smooth arrangement of the apparatus, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province Le Ngoc Chau and Head of the Organization Board of Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee Vo Hong Hai voluntarily applied for early retirement when streamlining the apparatus.

In January 2025, when implementing the policy of merging Thach Ha and Loc Ha districts (Ha Tinh), to facilitate the organization in arranging personnel, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hang, President of the Red Cross Society of Thach Ha district, wrote a request for early retirement even though she was not eligible for the policy under Decree 178/2024/ND-CP (Decree 178/2024/ND-CP does not stipulate people working within the payroll quota and receiving salaries from the state budget at associations assigned by the Party and the State).

Ms. Hang shared that she performed her duties and assignments correctly but did not receive appropriate policies and regimes, so she and many people in similar situations had concerns. However, the Government has now issued Decree No. 67/2025/ND-CP dated March 15, 2025 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 178/2024/ND-CP dated December 31, 2024, expanding the scope of regulation and applicable subjects. She is one of the three groups of subjects who are entitled to the regime, which has helped her relieve her psychology a lot and give her more confidence and motivation to be ready to retire early, creating favorable conditions for the organization in arranging personnel.

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hang, former President of the Red Cross Society of Thach Ha district (Ha Tinh) voluntarily retired before retirement age to support the work of streamlining the apparatus.

Looking back on 34 years of work, Mr. Ngo Quang Hung (born in 1972), former Deputy Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of Nam Dan District Party Committee (Nghe An) is satisfied with what he has devoted and contributed to the work, but also has certain regrets and concerns.

“Decree 178 stipulates rewards for those who have made contributions, so in my opinion, the province should consider awarding Certificates of Merit to those who voluntarily retire to facilitate the work of streamlining the apparatus. This is both a recognition of contributions during the working process and a policy to encourage pioneers who volunteer to support the Party and State's streamlining policy,” Mr. Hung wished.

Create opportunities for young and capable people:

Supporting the policy of streamlining and streamlining the apparatus, although she still has nearly 10 years of work, Ms. Le Hai Hung, District Party Committee member, former Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department, Lang Chanh District People's Committee (Thanh Hoa) has written a resignation letter and has been approved by the Chairman of Lang Chanh District People's Committee to retire from March 1, 2025. Currently, Ms. Hung's regime is being processed by the social insurance agency, so she has not received her pension for March and other support payments in accordance with Decree 178. Ms. Hung hopes that the State will more promptly resolve the regime for people who apply for early retirement, so that they have the potential to change careers.

According to Lai The Nguyen, Deputy Secretary of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, the Government has issued decrees on resolving policies for workers in a very public and transparent manner, so the implementation will be very public and transparent. The Standing Committee of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee has directed the Provincial People's Committee, the Standing Committees of districts, the People's Committees of districts, and sectors to quickly resolve procedures so that workers can take leave according to their wishes, and transparently implement the policies that workers are entitled to. Currently, the State's policies are relatively good and very satisfactory, so Thanh Hoa province has not yet raised the issue of having its own policies, but only implementing the State's policies well to ensure the rights of workers. Mr. Lai The Nguyen proposed that the Central Government allocate funds and resources to localities to promptly resolve policies for workers.

Mr. Phan Xuan Dien (born in 1977), former Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Con Cuong district, Nghe An, was the pioneer in quitting his job in a state agency to do business in growing medicinal plants since 2017. Mr. Dien himself has made efforts to pursue his passion for developing medicinal plants and building the company's brand, so he has initially been successful.

Mr. Phan Xuan Dien, former Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Con Cuong district (Nghe An) resigned from his job at a state agency to go out and grow medicinal plants, process medicinal products, and initially succeeded with his choice.

According to Mr. Phan Xuan Dien, implementing a revolution in organizational apparatus is an urgent requirement to create a breakthrough in national development. Through the arrangement and merger of organizational apparatus, it will help reduce the number of contacts, reduce administrative procedures, promote decentralization, and decentralization, thereby promoting economic growth and creating more jobs. However, in order for officials and civil servants who retire from the public sector to be able to start a business and participate in economic activities, in addition to general support policies, the Government should have credit packages with preferential interest rates for those who are subject to staff streamlining to borrow.

“Supporting preferential loan policies is equipping them with a fishing rod so they can participate in the vibrant economic market. In addition, local departments and agencies should have training courses for them to access new and modern sales skills and technologies that are suitable for current trends,” said Mr. Dien.

Mr. Le The Phong, Trung Thanh village, Luong Son commune, Thuong Xuan district (Thanh Hoa) quit his government job after 13 years as a teacher. In 2020, he went out to build a wood chip chipping facility and has had initial success.

Despite 13 years of teaching at the junior high school level, Mr. Le The Phong in Luong Son commune, Thuong Xuan district (Thanh Hoa) decided to leave to work outside the country despite not receiving support policies. In 2020, Mr. Phong started a business to build a workshop to purchase acacia trees and chop acacia chips, but encountered many difficulties in the early stages. With his efforts and perseverance, Mr. Phong's acacia chip chopping workshop is now operating stably, generating income and creating jobs for local workers.

Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Dien, Mr. Phong said that when implementing the restructuring and streamlining of the apparatus, the state should have policies and support resources so that officials, civil servants and public employees who retire before retirement age have resources to start a business.

Mr. Nguyen Van Linh, Head of the Organization and Personnel Department, Thanh Hoa Province Department of Home Affairs, said that the trend of cadres, civil servants and public employees no longer working in state agencies but moving to the private sector is inevitable. However, the working environment of state administrative agencies and the private sector is different, so job service centers can forecast the labor market, on that basis, propose policies to provide timely support and ensure for workers. At the same time, the State has solutions to support and encourage in the initial stage of job transition such as vocational training programs, partially solving the difficulties and problems of the private working environment...

“The Central Government’s policies for the subjects of streamlining are very humane and timely. The spirit of the Central Steering Committee is to minimize the impact and influence on the subjects when implementing the arrangement and streamlining of the apparatus, the policy mechanism for cadres, civil servants and public employees must be strong enough, creating favorable conditions for those implementing the streamlining of the apparatus to have the resources to find the next job. I think this policy is very appropriate and timely,” said Nguyen Van Linh, Head of the Organization and Personnel Department, Thanh Hoa Province Department of Home Affairs.

Support policies need to reach grassroots cadres soon:

Article: VNA reporters
Photos, graphics, videos: VNA - VNA released
Editor: Ha Phuong
Presented by: Ha Nguyen