Vietnam will cut one in five public sector jobs and slash billions of dollars from government budgets, after the country’s rubber-stamp parliament gave the go-ahead to a radical streamlining drive on Tuesday. The National Assembly voted to pass the government’s organisational structure, a statement on the parliament’s website said. The reforms, which mirror US President Donald Trump’s push to take a hatchet to spending, are creating unease in a communist country where working for the state long meant a job for life. Described as “a revolution” by senior officials, the drive will see the number of government ministries and agencies slashed from 30 to 22. The ministries of transport, planning and investment, communications and labour have all been scrapped, and the media, the civil service, the police and the military will all face cuts. Almost two million people worked in the public sector as of 2022, according to the government, although the International Labour Organization puts the figure much higher. One in five of these jobs will go over the next five years.