Downsized staff get used to private environment

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, 34 years old, is an official at the representative office in Ho Chi Minh City of a government agency. Implementing Resolution 18 on streamlining the apparatus, her agency reorganized and cut some people. She has a master's degree, speaks English, and has been a competitive soldier for many years, but she is still insecure. The female official realizes that stability, the biggest advantage of the public sector, is no longer there. If she tries to stay, in a few years there will be a streamlining period, and she will no longer have any opportunities in the labor market.

"It took me nearly two months to think about it before I decided to voluntarily quit my job," Tuyen said. First, she surveyed the labor market and found out about job vacancies that required administrative and human resources expertise. Next, she did ideological work with her parents in the countryside about the reason for leaving the state and recalculated how to repay the bank loan to buy an apartment in case she could not find a new job soon but the support money had not yet been transferred to her account.

Although she works for the government, every year she creates a CV to apply for positions at businesses that require her professional qualifications. The female civil servant said that she has never intended to quit her current job, but the "trial interviews" help her know what businesses need and how the market is changing so that she can proactively improve her qualifications and skills. For over a year, she has invested in learning Chinese before the wave of investment from China to Vietnam. With her long-standing initiative, she believes that job opportunities will open up when she leaves the government.

"I don't remember how many CVs I sent out, but I know there were a lot," Tuyen said. She didn't miss any opportunity, even if the job vacancy was only slightly related to her expertise. However, unlike when she pretended to be a job seeker and "sent my resume and the company called right away", this time, each day passed without any response from the places she applied to, while the agency handed over the decision to terminate her employment at the end of February.

After two weeks, she received an interview invitation from a company for a human resources position. Although she has always been proactive in improving her skills, she was still surprised by the new requirements of the employer. For example, human resources workers now have to know how to analyze data and evaluate the market to find ways to retain talent while ensuring salaries and bonuses. After many rejections, she was accepted by a company with a starting salary of 15 million VND and will start working in early April.

"I will cherish every opportunity that comes my way, so I am ready to accept the job and learn more," said Ms. Tuyen. She is currently taking online classes on job analysis skills, office skills, salary, and looking for environments that use English and Chinese. The former civil servant determined that it will take at least two years for her to adapt to the non-state market.

Unlike Thanh Tuyen, Ms. Bui Xuan Trieu, Deputy Representative of the Social Insurance Office in Ho Chi Minh City, chose to become a distributor of Amway Group products after quitting her job due to the agency's streamlining under Resolution 18. "This is an opportunity for me to have a breakthrough in income," said the former official who has just turned 40. Since the middle of last year, she has begun to learn about and use the company's products and sales methods.

After work or during lunch break, she makes appointments with clients for consultation. The part-time job brings in an average of around 10 million VND per month, which makes her believe that if she focuses, her income will not stop at this number. In particular, the job that brings her a lot of contact helps her to be happy and her life is interesting. For more than a year, she has been torn between the place that helped her grow up and have a stable life, but also wants to leave to go to a job with a good income and be proactive about her time.

The female civil servant said that she had previously hesitated and did not dare to leave the public sector, but when Resolution 18 and the support policy of Decree 178 were issued, she made up her mind. "16 years of working for the state gave me many things, but it's time for me to leave," said Ms. Trieu.

Ms. Trieu and Thanh Tuyen were among the first group to leave the public sector when the sector reorganized its apparatus according to Resolution 18. To support those who quit their jobs, the Government issued Decree 178 to support those who quit their jobs due to streamlining with many outstanding financial policies. However, recently, Decree 67 adjusted a number of articles of Decree 178, effective from March 15, including an important amendment to the provision that abolished the policy of additional support from localities.

Ms. Thanh Nguyen, CEO of Anphabe, believes that those who have left or are about to leave the public sector need to recognize the fact that not only state agencies are streamlining, but the private sector is also strongly restructuring. Streamlining the apparatus and selecting excellent personnel with new skills are the top requirements of all organizations and this process will continue. Therefore, to adapt, people working in the public sector need to remove the mindset of lifelong tenure and be ready for change.

Anphabe CEO believes that first of all, officials and civil servants need to redefine stability and security. Previously, stability was defined as doing a job until retirement, but now it should be understood that no matter what happens to the organization, employees always have opportunities. Therefore, employees must increase their new capacity to match the development and requirements of the job.

"By doing this, employees will expand their comfort zone and easily find new opportunities even if the organization changes," said Ms. Thanh, adding that in addition to skills, proactive candidates who are willing to change are always welcomed and valued by all organizations.

Ms. Thanh Nguyen said that in the context of streamlining everywhere, job opportunities for people who have just left the public sector are not high. Therefore, at this stage, people leaving the public sector must accept the reality that it is impossible to find a job with the same salary as before. "Civil servants can accept taking a step back to re-evaluate the market, adjust expectations, and reinvent themselves to turn sideways or move faster," said the CEO of Anphabe.

However, experts also say that those who have just lost their jobs should not worry too much because in fact, a survey by Anphabe last year showed that employees who were laid off in 2023, after 6 months, had new jobs. 1/3 of them found a better working environment and salary than their old place.

After many years working in the public sector and then moving to the private sector, Mr. Tran Ngoc Minh, Business Director of Rockwoll Group in Vietnam, said that the worry of difficulty in integration is the mentality of most employees when changing jobs. Not to mention that from the public sector to the outside, there are many differences in environment, processes, working culture... To adapt and develop well, officials and civil servants need to be well prepared mentally, especially working at high intensity, ready to learn, proactively expressing themselves through a sense of responsibility and work results. Encouragement from family and friends also helps people leaving the public sector have positive energy and adapt to the new environment.