HANOI - Sipping green tea in his garden of roses, ex-communist party official Nguyen Van Cuong says he is “jobless but happy” after Vietnam cut 80,000 state roles this week.

But fretting at home after leaving public employment once considered a job-for-life, Ms Nguyen Thi Thu told AFP she feels “empty” over a future that is no longer certain.

Vietnam is in the midst of a dramatic remaking of its state apparatus, with 100,000 positions slated to be scrapped as Hanoi seeks to streamline bureaucracy and boost the economy.

On June 30,

80,000 roles were slashed

Feelings are mixed among newly unemployed apparatchiks – communist party officials whose jobs were once guaranteed.

“It’s really a waste for the state to lose one like myself,” said 56-year-old Cuong, who served in Bac Giang province outside Hanoi. Bac Giang was merged into a neighbouring province’s administration.

The government said those caught in the overhaul would either be made redundant or offered early retirement.

Mr Cuong told AFP he could have remained in his post – or even been promoted – but chose to accept a US$75,000 (S$95,600) payoff for his remaining six years after a 30-year state career.

“It’s time to rid myself of so much complexity in state politics,” he said.

The mass reorganisation overseen by Vietnam’s top leader To Lam echoes steps taken by US President Donald Trump and Argentine leader Javier Milei to take an axe to government spending towards “efficiency”.

Former district-level secretary Thu admits she may not have b...