Salary increases every year but only to compensate for inflation
Discussing at the 6th session of the 15th National Assembly on the results of the implementation of the socio-economic development plan for 2023; the expected socio-economic development plan for 2024 this morning, October 24, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung talked about the content of great interest at this session, which is salary reform.
The Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs summarized that the Central Government had passed Resolution 27 in 2018 but it had not been implemented in recent years. According to him, in reality, the government still considers adjusting salaries every year, but only to compensate for inflation, not to reform salaries.
"This is the right time to carry out fundamental wage reform. Wages are the price of labor, investing in wage reform is investing in development. Currently, the whole country has prepared all the conditions to implement it," the Minister emphasized.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung analyzed the shortcomings and obstacles in the current salary policy. The salary of a newly graduated engineer is 3.5 million VND, lower than the lowest regional minimum wage. Meanwhile, the general principle is that salary must ensure the life of workers and their families.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung (Photo: Manh Dung).
The head of the labor sector proposed to implement the proposed salary reform roadmap this time, along with salary reform in the state-owned enterprise sector.
According to him, state-owned enterprises are currently facing losses and the paradox is that workers have low incomes but managers' salaries are still very high.
The Minister proposed a reform in the direction of the State not intervening in the salary scale, so that businesses have full authority and initiative to build their own salary and bonus system.
The Minister said: "From now on, the whole country will abandon the current salary scale system. The "hand of the state" will only intervene in issuing the minimum wage."
In addition, the commander of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs noted that timely adjustments are needed for people receiving pensions and benefits.
He pointed out that it is expected that from July 1, 2024, when salary reform is implemented, the basic salary will be abolished, while in reality, retirees have paid social insurance for many years according to the basic salary.
The Minister asked, so in the future, will pensioners and beneficiaries have their salaries reformed? "If pension levels are not raised, retirees will inadvertently fall behind, further and further from the reality of social life," Minister Dao Ngoc Dung shared.
Wage hikes curb inflation
Delegate Vu Thi Luu Mai (Hanoi delegation) said that the highlight of 2024 is to increase salaries to implement Resolution 27 of the Politburo. Currently, the Government has developed a salary reform project, waiting for approval by the National Assembly.
"According to this project, salaries of civil servants and related forces will increase from July 1, 2024. The issue that comes with salary increases is controlling inflation. It can be seen that each salary increase, including salaries for retirees, has an impact on prices and inflation," said Ms. Mai.
Delegate Vu Thi Luu Mai cited that according to the report of the General Statistics Office, in 2023 alone (4 months), up to 32% of households were affected by rising prices.
Delegate Vu Thi Luu Mai (Photo: National Assembly).
"If wages are increased without controlling inflation, the meaning of the wage increase is not guaranteed," Ms. Mai commented.
Ms. Mai believes that it is necessary to increase salaries substantially, not to equalize them. In the context of the state budget still being at a "moderate" level, increasing salaries is a great effort.
"According to Resolution 27, when salaries increase, civil servants and public employees will no longer have other allowances. We think the Government needs to pay attention and calculate so that when there are no more allowances, people who are earning income from allowances will not be affected. In addition, along with salary increases, there must be a streamlining of the payroll, so that the state apparatus can operate truly effectively," said Ms. Mai.
Cultural revival program has not created new momentum
He analyzed that the complicated world situation is greatly affecting Vietnam. Recently, the control of some indicators such as the consumer price index (CPI) has not met expectations, but that is a great effort of the state. In fact, many countries in the world are suffering from very high inflation, such as Japan, where the yen has fallen by 36%.
The Minister stated the actual figures, the unemployment rate is currently increasing locally. The labor market is experiencing reverse migration from urban to rural areas. This signals difficulties such as unemployment and the income of workers being affected.
Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung (Photo: Manh Dung).
On the other hand, Minister of Labor, recent reality has proven that the agricultural and rural areas truly play the role of "midwife" of the economy. In the context of general difficulties, Vietnam is always in the top 10 countries with the lowest unemployment rate.
Regarding socio-economic issues, the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that it is necessary to focus on food security and take advantage of opportunities and advantages in rice export. In addition, developing the night-time economy in urban areas and large cities is also a good investment direction.
"It's time to strongly develop the cultural industry. This issue can be clearly seen from the concert of Korean music group Blackpink, which can bring huge benefits to Hanoi," the Minister emphasized.
Agreeing with the goal of cultural revival, the Minister frankly admitted that the program has not yet created new momentum for the country.
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