Government's staff cuts behind schedule
Ha Noi, Feb. 12 (VNA) -- The Government's plan to cut 69,000 jobs before 2002 has fallen short of its target because of poor handling by State agencies and businesses, a senior government official said.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Thang Van Phuc said more efforts were required from the central Government, local authorities and State employees to implement the staff cuts, which are necessary to slash Government spending and reform its administrave system.
The Government planned to reduce the number of State employees by 7,000, or 5 percent, between 2000 and 2002.
Accordingly the plans, State agencies and businesses were required to cut their staff by more than 7,000 and local government offices were to lay off more than 62,000 people before the 2002 deadline.
However, in the past two years the number of employees was reduced by just 20,000 - more than 30 percent less than the target - a failure which has harmed the State budget and national economy, according to the official.
The reduction programme targeted underqualified administrative officials and underemployed or redundant personnel in State agencies and businesses.
Government surveys have estimated that about 17 percent of staff in local offices, and 28 percent of staff in central Government offices, are redundant.
The large number of idle employees has been a drain on the budget and created more costly red tape for those dealing with the agencies, he said.
He attributed the slow rate of job cuts to widespread misconceptions about benefits available on the Government payroll, and managers having difficulty in telling people they were no longer needed.
Many people mistakenly believed there were different benefits for employees on the State payroll and those working under labour contracts.
State employees were seen as having better chances of promotion, particularly in central Government offices, and State positions were seen as offering opportunities to make lucrative under-the-table incomes.
There was also a wrong belief that State employees had access to social welfare benefits, such as pensions and health insurance, while those on labour contracts did not.
The result has been that contract workers want to become permanent State employees, while those on the State payroll struggled to avoid losing their jobs.
He also urged State enterprises to comply with the laws set down to protect the rights of workers affected by the lay-offs.
To date, only a few industries have made any notable progress in redundancies, including agriculture, forestry, fishing, trade, hotels, communications, scientific research, trade unions and social support associations.
The number of public employees in social and professional organisations has fallen 7 percent, while hospitality related enterprises have reduced staff by 4.5 percent and trading businesses by nearly 3 percent.
