The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has submitted a draft resolution on the recruitment of civil servants and public employees under the city’s management, along with a separate draft resolution for the municipal People’s Council on hiring, recruiting and appointing heads of public service units and managers of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the city’s jurisdiction.
HCMC proposes civil service recruitment by selection in Con Dao, Thanh An
Under the draft resolution on the recruitment of civil servants and public employees under Ho Chi Minh City’s management, the proposed measures aim to address practical difficulties, particularly shortages of eligible candidates in certain areas and for positions requiring specialized expertise.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee proposes allowing civil servants to be recruited through a selection process in Con Dao Special Zone, Thanh An Commune, and the Con Dao National Park Special-Use Forest Protection Unit, which falls under the Con Dao National Park Management Board. This mechanism would apply only to vacancies that have been publicly advertised but have attracted no applicants or for which competitive examinations have been held, but the recruitment targets have not been fully met.
For public employees, the municipal People’s Committee proposes using selection procedures for professional and technical positions in healthcare; science and technology; and culture, sports and tourism, as well as positions at public service units in Con Dao Special Zone and Thanh An Commune. The recruitment of teachers at public educational institutions in these areas would remain subject to sector-specific regulations.
Another proposal is to establish specific standards and eligibility requirements for admitting certain groups of experienced workers into the civil service. These groups include public employees; salaried personnel in the People’s Army, People’s Public Security and cipher organizations who are not civil servants; people holding managerial or leadership positions at department level or above in enterprises with state capital, as defined in the draft resolution; and people recruited against approved staffing quotas to work at associations assigned tasks by the Party or the State.
Under the proposal, applicants in these groups must have at least five consecutive years of service immediately preceding the proposed admission date, performing work that requires professional qualifications relevant to the intended position. They must also have received performance ratings of “good” or higher from their agencies or units in each of those five years.
Proposed mechanism to hire heads of public service units
According to a proposal for a draft resolution of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council regulating the hiring, recruitment, and appointment of heads of public service units and managers of state-owned enterprises under the city's management, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee evaluated that public service units are facing the requirement to transition to full autonomy in both operating and investment expenditure.
This requirement demands leaders with professional organizational capacity, financial management expertise, and the ability to sustain the long-term growth of their units.
However, career development processes based on pay grades, seniority, and talent planning pools may limit access to qualified candidates from the private sector or international experts. Appointments have not been strictly linked to Key Performance Indicator (KPI) commitments, while compensation, bonus, and incentive schemes remain uncompetitive compared with major corporations and private enterprises.
Therefore, for public service units, the city proposes two options for selecting top executives: hiring external personnel or recruiting and appointing personnel in accordance with existing regulations.
For state-owned enterprises where the State holds 100 percent of charter capital under Ho Chi Minh City's management, the city proposes a mechanism to hire Directors-General and Directors. Meanwhile, the positions of Chairman of the Members' Council, Company Chairman, and members of the Members' Council will be filled through standard recruitment and appointment processes.
