Conclusion No. 40-KL/TW was considered by the Politburo on the basis of submissions from the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission concerning amendments and supplements to the Regulations on Staffing Management of the Political System, staffing allocations for 2026, and orientations for the 2027–2031 period. The Politburo agreed in principle with the proposed contents and tasked the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission with incorporating relevant feedback to finalise the draft Regulations on Staffing Management and the draft Decision on staffing allocations for 2026, ensuring the accuracy of data before submitting them to the competent authorities for consideration and issuance.

Continuing workforce streamlining with clear roadmaps and criteria

One of the major orientations set out in the Conclusion is to continue streamlining the workforce of the political system by approximately 5–10%. However, workforce reductions must not be implemented mechanically or on an across-the-board basis. Instead, they must be based on specific plans, roadmaps and accountability commitments by each agency, unit, organisation and locality.

A notable new requirement is that workforce streamlining must go hand in hand with decentralisation, delegation of authority and a clear delineation of powers; the application of science and technology and digital transformation; administrative reform; simplified workflows; fewer intermediary layers in operations; streamlined internal organisational structures; and improvements in the quality of cadres, civil servants and public employees.

The Conclusion also calls for staffing norms to be reviewed, amended, supplemented or newly developed, alongside the establishment of national and sectoral databases interconnected from the central level to provincial and commune levels. These databases must meet the requirement of being “accurate, adequate, clean, live, unified, interconnected and shared.” This is an important foundation for data-driven staffing management, replacing an approach based predominantly on administrative headcounts.

From “staffing management” to “national human resource governance”

Conclusion No. 40-KL/TW underscores the need for fundamental changes in the mindset, awareness and methods used to determine staffing levels across the political system. Accordingly, the current fixed, long-term approach should be replaced with three-year management cycles, allowing adjustments to be made in line with practical requirements. Staffing levels must be determined in a scientific and objective manner, based on clearly defined norms, criteria and standards.

In particular, the Politburo calls for a decisive shift from the mindset of “staffing management” to “national human resource governance in service of national development,” with the aim of ensuring the effective management and use of every allocated staff post. Under this approach, staffing is considered within the broader requirements of Party building, development of the political system, salary reform, job-position schemes and national development in the new period.

In the spirit of the Conclusion, staffing allocations must be closely linked to digital transformation, the application of science and technology, administrative reform, decentralisation and delegation of authority, as well as functions, tasks, job positions and specific outputs. Administrative posts involving relatively simple tasks that can be digitised, automated or transferred to non-state provision should be decisively reduced so that human resources can be reinforced in key areas, including science and technology, digital transformation, the digital economy and strategic localities.

Preventing staffing shortages where personnel are needed and avoiding the retention of posts where efficiency is low

Another important requirement is to prevent situations in which agencies or localities facing personnel shortages are unable to add staff while those making inefficient use of their staffing allocations are allowed to retain them unchanged. The Conclusion calls for stronger mechanisms to screen out and replace personnel who fail to meet job requirements, applying the principle that there must be both entry and exit for staff posts funded by the State budget.

At the same time, the Politburo requires that practices such as “seeking additional staffing quotas,” “holding on to positions” or “preserving existing organisational structures” for narrow institutional or local interests be strictly prevented. Each ministry, sector, agency, unit, organisation and locality must conduct a thorough review, streamline its internal organisational structure, and remove unnecessary intermediary layers and units that operate only nominally or have low productivity.

Regarding implementation in 2026, the Conclusion requires agencies and units to proactively review and adjust their organisational structures and staffing levels in line with practical conditions and the requirements of their assigned tasks. Public employees must not be assigned to positions designated for civil servants. Where the actual number of civil servants and public employees exceeds the staffing quota allocated for 2026, the agencies concerned must urgently develop feasible plans, solutions and roadmaps to bring their headcounts into line with the approved allocation by the end of 2026.

Developing a scientific and substantive staffing allocation plan for 2027–2031

The Conclusion assigns the Party Committee of Central Party Agencies, the Party Committee of the Government, the Party Committee of the National Assembly, and the Party Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and Central Mass Organisations to lead and direct the institutionalisation, specification and strict implementation of the tasks, solutions and orientations for determining and allocating staffing levels for the 2027–2031 period.

Party committees directly under these bodies are required to urgently develop staffing norms, staffing levels, and civil servant and public employee structures for individual agencies, units, sectors and fields. These must be based on quantified results from digital transformation, administrative reform, decentralisation, delegation of authority, and the classification of administrative units, while taking into account population size, geographical area, gross regional domestic product (GRDP), functions, tasks, organisational structures, workloads and the specific characteristics of each sector, field and locality. This work must be completed before September 15, 2026, serving as the basis for proposing, determining and allocating staffing levels for the 2027–2031 period.

The Politburo has tasked the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission with taking the lead and coordinating with relevant agencies to continue conducting in-depth research and comprehensive reform in order to develop a genuinely scientific staffing allocation plan for 2027–2031. The plan must set out clear norms, standards and criteria for each job position and be linked to the continued improvement of regulations governing the effective and substantive management and use of staffing allocations. A report is to be submitted to the Politburo by the end of the fourth quarter of 2026.

Overall, Conclusion No. 40-KL/TW not only calls for continued workforce streamlining but, more importantly, seeks to reform the management and use of staffing through a more data-driven, transparent, flexible and effective approach. It represents a shift from input-based management to output-oriented governance, and from managing headcounts to improving the quality of human resources across the political system, contributing to the building of a streamlined apparatus that operates effectively and efficiently and better serves the people, businesses and the country’s development requirements in the new period.