7.2% increase in regional minimum wage: Motivating workers

Workers produce on an export line at a garment factory in Bac Ninh province - Photo: HA QUAN

According to the proposal, the minimum wage in region I will increase from VND4.96 million/month to VND5.31 million/month (an increase of VND350,000); region II will increase from VND4.41 million/month to VND4.73 million/month (an increase of VND320,000); region III will increase from VND3.86 million/month to VND4.14 million/month (an increase of VND280,000) and region IV will increase from VND3.45 million/month to VND3.7 million/month (an increase of VND250,000).

Motivate workers

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs , Chairman of the National Wage Council Nguyen Manh Khuong assessed that the 7.2% wage increase is appropriate to the current context of the country's economic development. At the same time, it is consistent with the direction towards the era of national development, the target of economic growth of 8% in 2025 and double digits in the following years.

Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor - also assessed that the proposed 7.2% increase in regional minimum wage from January 1, 2026 basically meets the expectations of trade unions and union members.

He said that this shows the spirit of sharing the difficulties of businesses and also motivates workers to work with enthusiasm and make efforts so that by the end of this year we can achieve the growth target."

After the Government officially decides on the regional minimum wage increase in 2026, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor will organize implementation and propagate workers to agree and support this increase so that workers with high productivity and good quality can develop businesses together so that the whole country can enter a new era," Mr. Hieu informed.

Similarly, Mr. Le Dinh Quang - a union labor expert - expressed that the time to increase the minimum wage from January 1, 2026 is consistent with previous practice (January 1 every year).

Along with that, it is in line with the spirit of Resolution 27 of the Central Executive Committee on adjusting the minimum wage with factors such as the correlation between the minimum wage and market wages, consumer price index (CPI), economic growth rate, labor productivity, business payment capacity...

"To accelerate and achieve the economic growth target, the minimum wage must increase proportionally and synchronously. This is an important message that when the country develops, the lives of workers will also improve," Mr. Quang expressed.

From increasing regional minimum wages, towards "living wages"

Looking at it from a broader perspective, delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (HCMC) also said that in the current economic context of the country, the proposal to increase the regional minimum wage as above has many meanings. Especially in the current difficult business situation and the situation of the average increase in the consumer price index (CPI) in the first six months of 2025 is 3.27%, the increase of 7.2% is reasonable.

According to Mr. Huan, increasing the regional minimum wage is not only related to the wallet, but also to the human value in the economy. In particular, the regional minimum wage is the boundary that demonstrates the State's commitment to protecting vulnerable workers. When the minimum wage is adjusted promptly to the market, social trust increases, workers feel secure in working and producing, and conflicts are reduced.

However, although he appreciated the proposal to increase the regional minimum wage by 7.2% from 2026, Mr. Huan acknowledged that if calculated in absolute numbers, the highest increase in region I, about 350,000 VND, is not a large number.

With the minimum wage in region I, as proposed to increase to over 5.3 million VND, it only meets a part of the needs of workers. Especially workers in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi... where consumer prices are high.

Therefore, according to Mr. Huan, this increase in the minimum wage also continues to raise greater expectations about when the regional minimum wage will reach the "living wage" level - not just the current floor level.

At the same time, increasing wages needs to go hand in hand with increasing insurance, reducing medical - education - housing costs and especially having policies to avoid the story of wages not increasing but all goods have increased first.

Another point, according to Mr. Huan, along with the increase in basic salary for officials and civil servants in the public sector that has been implemented since July 1, 2024 and will increase the regional minimum wage from January 1, 2026, the authorities also need to study to soon adjust the family deduction level of personal income tax.

It is necessary to increase the family deduction level to match the actual income and the socio-economic development situation. From there, the salary increase for workers in general will be truly meaningful.

Civil servants of the Cat Lai Ward Public Administration Service Center, Ho Chi Minh City, handle documents for people - Photo: HUU HANH

* Mr. Nguyen Van De (Chairman of Vietnam Private Hospital Association, Chairman of Hop Luc Joint Stock Corporation):

High base salary increase puts pressure on small and medium enterprises

Although the wage council has finalized the proposal to increase the regional minimum wage at 7.2% in early 2026, many businessmen still told me that an increase of 5% would be more suitable to the current production and business situation of enterprises.

The whole society has just gone through a revolution of streamlining the apparatus and merging administrative boundaries, so from the government to businesses, everyone is in the process of arranging and stabilizing the organizational apparatus and finding investment and business directions.

Many businesses have not yet fully recovered from the pandemic, so increasing the regional minimum wage will greatly affect production and business activities.

Currently, most large enterprises have paid monthly salaries and bonuses to employees exceeding the regional minimum wage prescribed by the Government, but small and medium enterprises, especially micro enterprises and business households that have just transformed into enterprises, are still facing many difficulties and must make efforts to recover production and business.

For businesses with enough potential, they often adjust the salary increase for employees before adjusting the regional minimum wage. Businesses all want to do better business so that employees have stable jobs and higher income.

But in reality, many businesses still have difficulty getting orders and production output, so increasing the base salary at a high level will cause great pressure.

Previously, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor announced a survey in March and April 2025 with nearly 3,000 workers in 10 provinces and cities.

As a result, nearly 55% of workers share their salary, their income is just enough to cover basic family expenses; more than 26% have to save and spend frugally, while 8% do not have enough to live on and have to find extra work. Income is not enough to cover expenses, forcing them to "tighten their belts" and borrow money to pay for unexpected needs.

The survey found that 12.5% of workers regularly had to borrow money to make ends meet, while nearly 30% did so occasionally (once every 3-4 months). In addition, more than 93% of workers said they had received a minimum wage increase of 6% as required.

However, some companies only adjust for low-wage workers to pay social insurance, so actual wages do not increase.

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc (41 years old, mechanical worker in Hanoi) expressed her joy at the prospect of getting a raise. She said that with the cost of raising three children and living expenses, food, electricity and water, "a little more salary is good."

However, she hopes that the government will find a way to control prices and not increase electricity and water bills so that the salary increase will be truly meaningful. The union will take more care and support for the workers so that they can work with peace of mind and contribute to the company.

Mr. Le Van Vuong (37 years old, a worker at an electrical equipment manufacturing company in Hung Yen) also shared with the proposal to increase the regional minimum wage, his and his wife's salary is expected to be adjusted to increase by about 280,000 VND/person/month.

He shared that although the increase is not too big, in the current price situation it is still meaningful, helping to cover living expenses.

Mr. Vuong hopes that in the long term, the State needs to have a solution so that the regional minimum wage must be a salary that ensures workers have enough to live on and take care of their families and children.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tang-7-2-luong-toi-thieu-vung-tao-dong-luc-cho-nguoi-lao-dong-20250712234011013.htm#content-1