"Currently, we have over 900 non-specialized personnel at commune and ward levels who will cease activities under the apparatus streamlining policy after reorganization. Half of them are young, talented individuals," Quang said, referring to the talent attraction policy.

He highlighted the reality that some young talented people have worked in the state sector for over a decade but under fixed-term labor contracts due to the lack of official staffing quotas. 

“Some studied for PhDs abroad but, without quotas, work as non-specialized personnel. Now, with the streamlining policy, these individuals are being removed from the system,” he said.

The Da Nang Secretary argued that talent recruitment regulations must be accompanied by a reasonable staffing quota mechanism, or they will be just "declarative policies."

“Seeing them (young talented officers likely to be dismissed) cry, we shed tears too,” he said.

Discussing the provision in the draft amended Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, which allowed “to sign contracts with experts and scientists on performing certain tasks of civil servants" being discussed by the National Assembly, Quang said this is a groundbreaking change.

However, the government needs to release legal documents to provide guidance on implementing this provision, such as remuneration mechanisms for civil servants.

On talent recruitment, the draft law states: "Direct recruitment applies only to talented individuals from the non-private sector or experienced individuals who immediately can meet the job position’s requirements and are public employees."

The Da Nang City Party Secretary noted that this sounds interesting but is difficult to apply.

"If we prioritize recruiting talent, why do we still require them to meet standards and to be public employees? Does this mean talented individuals must already be public employees to be recruited?" Quang said.

He argued that for those already in the apparatus as civil servants, this will be another story. But if agencies want to recruit talent, they should not set such criteria.

The other problem mentioned by Quang is the lack of an open mechanism related to civil servant and public employee quotas.

"Without clear provisions allowing a certain percentage of talented individuals within allocated quotas, we cannot act. Ultimately, it comes down to whether we have quotas to recruit."

Quang cited a lesson from Da Nang’s program to train 500 young talented people for state agencies. Since there was no personnel quota allocated, DaNang could only recruit talent under labor contracts (rather than permanent official employment). And when implementing Resolution 18 on apparatus streamlining, more than 400 officers were excluded from the system and most of them were excellent officers.

Quang went on to say that the talent recruitment policy is sound, but the government must provide practical guidance on recruitment and utilization mechanisms, or the policy will stay unrealistic.

Creating an environment to protect dissenting voices

Hoang Minh Hieu, a National Assembly deputy from Nghe An Province, said removing institutional barriers to attract talent is being discussed at many National Assembly sessions. This issue affects not only the state apparatus’s efficiency but also the nation’s institutional competitiveness.

As high-quality human resources become vital for development in current conditions, reforming the institutional regime to attract, retain, and utilize talent in the public sector is urgent.

"I appreciate some new proposals in the draft Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, especially the flexible contract mechanism for experts, scientists, and talented individuals, rather than binding them to lifelong quotas. This modern approach aligns with task-based, project-based, and value-driven human resource use, rather than lengh of service, ranks, or degrees," Hieu remarked.

However, he stressed that regulations alone are insufficient. A shift in mindset toward managing public sector human resources based on market mechanisms is crucial.

"This means creating a fair competitive mechanism compared with the private sector, in terms of work environment, development opportunities, and remuneration policies. This requires transfer between public and private sectors, allowing flexible human resource movement while maintaining stability, fairness, and transparency in recruitment, utilization, and evaluation.

“Attracting talent to the public sector must first rely on remuneration matching their value and contributions, avoiding a uniform basic salary for all positions," Hieu said.

He argued that individuals who can solve major issues and create clear impact should receive higher pay in accordance with the value law. Additionally, transparent evaluation and utilization mechanisms based on results are needed.

Nguyen Hien