Defense and security production and industrial mobilization activities are highly specific and closely linked to defense and security tasks; therefore, special mechanisms and policies are needed to meet the requirements of development, integration and national defense in the new situation. The draft Law on Defense and Security Industry and Industrial Mobilization, which was recently submitted for the first time to the 15th National Assembly at its sixth session, is very necessary. Nhan Dan Newspaper reporters surveyed the opinions of agencies and businesses operating in this field.
Construction of grinding and brushing of ship structure welds at Factory Z189, General Department of Defense Industry. (Photo provided by General Department of Defense Industry)
Attract and retain good people
Discussing in groups about the above draft law, National Assembly deputies agreed on the necessity of promulgating the law as stated in the Government's Submission, in order to fully institutionalize the Party and State's policies and guidelines on the development of the defense and security industry and industrial mobilization; overcome the limitations and shortcomings after 15 years of implementing the Defense Industry Ordinance, 20 years of implementing the Industrial Mobilization Ordinance and the practice of developing the security industry since the 11th Party Congress to date; and create a complete and feasible legal corridor.
In the current context, businesses are increasingly competing fiercely to attract talented people, including executives, highly qualified workers and skilled workers. Colonel Tran The Son, Party Secretary and Chairman of Hong Ha Shipbuilding One Member Co., Ltd. (Factory Z173) said that shipbuilding is a hard and toxic profession, while income and salary are not really attractive. Currently, the factory's location has many large enterprises with better working conditions, higher and more stable income.
Therefore, the competition for human resources between the factory and these businesses is very fierce, and retaining workers at the factory is very difficult. In 2023, about 20 workers of the factory applied to transfer jobs outside. Not only is it difficult to attract young workers to work to succeed and replace workers preparing to retire, but the current workforce of the factory has decreased by 40% compared to the time when the factory had the most workers...
Mr. Vu Van Quan, a level 6/7 worker at Factory Z173, said that he has been working at Factory Z173 for nearly 20 years and his biggest dream is to be selected as a defense worker or civil servant soon. Therefore, although there are many attractive offers from outside about benefits, he still decided to stay with the factory, waiting for the day he will become a defense worker or civil servant. Meanwhile, those who have become defense workers or civil servants in the factory wish and always strive to be selected as professional soldiers, to officially "wear stars and hats".
Under normal conditions, for the same job position, the regime and policies for contract workers are very different from those for defense workers and civil servants, and even more different from those for professional soldiers, from the unit price of salary to the regime of health insurance (insurance for oneself and insurance for relatives), social insurance... This is the concern of leaders and commanders of companies and factories, and also the anxiety of tens of thousands of workers and laborers in defense industry enterprises.
Referring to the above issue, Colonel Ly Thanh Minh, Deputy Production Director of Chemical Engineering Company 13 (Factory Z113) said that because the recruitment quota for workers, defense officials, and professional soldiers is very small, only a few people per year, the selection criteria are very high. The factory has just had a selection round according to the staffing plan, seven comrades from thousands of long-term contract workers became defense workers and officials.
Because the selection rate is very low, in addition to the general criteria, factory workers who want to be considered and selected must meet other criteria such as: Workers with level 7 worker qualifications, 10 years of achieving the title of emulation soldier or achieving the title of excellent worker in the whole army. Therefore, some people have to work at the factory for 20-30 years to be selected to become defense workers and civil servants.
In addition, defense enterprises also expressed their desire for a special mechanism in paying salaries and bonuses to workers. Currently, the unit price of salary for level 4/7 workers is only 217 thousand VND/day, while the same worker in other enterprises can be paid 3-4 times more.
Or a newly graduated engineer, even if promoted to the rank of lieutenant, will only have a salary of about eight million VND/month, while if working for an outside enterprise, they can receive a salary of several tens to hundreds of millions of VND. Therefore, without a specific mechanism on salary policy, defense industry enterprises will not be able to attract and retain talented people.
Worthy investment in defense and security industry
Talking about policies in science and technology activities, Colonel Phan Duong Minh, Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Department of Defense Industry, said that this is an important breakthrough step to build and develop an independent, autonomous, dual-use, and modern defense and security industry. According to the current process, the time from research, design to production of a product takes 8-10 years; The process of purchasing specialized materials in scientific research according to the Law on Bidding is difficult to implement, payment procedures for projects are complicated, time-consuming, and laborious...
Meanwhile, the requirements and demands for scientific research and technical innovation initiatives in defense and security industrial enterprises are very large, and the costs for scientific research are also very large. To successfully implement a scientific research project to design and manufacture a new type of weapon, not only theoretical research is required, but also design, prototype and testing are required. There are types of weapons, ammunition, equipment and military equipment that require testing in a large space...
Therefore, it is necessary to have specific mechanisms and policies in scientific and technological activities in the fields of weapons development, strategic technical equipment, and special technical means to encourage scientists to be creative and innovative in thinking and working methods.
Colonel Nguyen Phi Truong, Party Secretary and Chairman of Precision Engineering Company 29 (Factory Z129) said that every year, Factory Z129 still sets aside the Science and Technology Development Fund according to the Law on Science and Technology, but each year it only receives about 15 billion VND. Meanwhile, the company's scientific research tasks under the direction of the General Department of Defense Industry each year amount to 40-50 billion VND.
Because the source of the Science and Technology Development Fund is still very limited, defense and security industrial factories need a special investment mechanism to have enough resources to serve scientific research, weapons development, and technical equipment.
To have more resources to serve the needs of scientific research, defense and security industry enterprises recommend that there should be a special mechanism allowing enterprises to deduct profits from production that applies scientific and technological research results to reinvest in scientific research and perfect technology with weapons, ammunition, equipment, military equipment, and professional technical means.
The State needs to have a worthy investment mechanism from the budget to support the development of scientific research and technological innovation in defense and security industrial enterprises.
