Category: Author’s post
Cooperation in labor and employment are discussed by Serbia and Uzbekistan
The further development of bilateral relations and new avenues of cooperation in the field of labor and employment were the subjects of the meeting between Serbia’s Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Oybek Shakhadinov.
The Serbian Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs said that Serbia and Uzbekistan share common values: respect for traditions, the preservation of national identity, and a commitment to strengthening families and society.
Also, significant economic growth of the both countries creates opportunities to exchange best practices and jointly advance labor and labor-migration policies.
The sides have an intention to sign a technical protocol between the national employment services ant to practically implement agreed measures.
The countries want to develop a sustainable, fair and mutually beneficial model of labor migration, supporting economic development and protecting the interests of domestic labor markets.
Notably, Memorandum of Understanding on labor migration signed by the President of Serbia during his recent visit to Uzbekistan. Due to this document, the competent institutions of the two states got the foundation for stable, systematic and long-term cooperation.
Moreover, Đurđević Stamenkovski received an invitation to visit Uzbekistan in March next year from ambassador Shakhadinov.
The minister appreciated this gesture, and the signing of a technical protocol that will elevate Serbia–Uzbekistan cooperation to a new, more concrete level might be the result of this visit.
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Read moreMinimum wage in Kazakhstan will be reevaluated in 2027-2028
As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy, Serik Zhumangarin, said at a government meeting, the Government of Kazakhstan is investigating the possibility of raising the minimum wage in 2027–2028.
According to Zhumangarin, they expect real income growth for the population to attain an average minimum of 2–3 percent annually from 2026 to 2028.
Also, targeted employment support programs help this income growth, especially in the regions with low economic activity.
Other measures of managing inflation should be limiting withdrawals from the National Fund and tightening oversight on public expenditure. Strict adherence to budgetary regulations will be involved in this strategy. The government’s fiscal plan projects a decrease of the budget deficit to 0.9 percent of GDP by 2028. They also expect the non-oil deficit to decline to 2.7 percent of GDP. The current aim is not to let national debt levels surpass 26 percent of GDP.
Kazakhstan’s government will set minimum wage at 85,000 tenge (approximately $163 at the current exchange rate) as of January 1, 2024.
Also, the National Bank of Kazakhstan provided the official exchange rate as of November 19, 2025, stating that 1 USD equals 521.01 KZT.
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Read moreYoung people choose blue-collar professions, while AI changes labor market and puts office jobs at risk
Kazakhstan’s labor market is undergoing a gradual transformation due to Artificial intelligence. It means that blue-collar professions’ stability and resilience against AI disruption make them increasingly popular with Generation Z, while office and administrative roles encounter higher automation risks.
Employment trends also face a strong AI impact.
As the country’s center for human resource development reports, it is possible to automate approximately 13% of work tasks in Kazakhstan or around one million jobs in the long term. The most vulnerable ones are office support and administrative positions, where AI can potentially perform up to 45% of tasks. Opposingly, such sectors as construction, machine operation, electrical work, and transport are among the least affected. As Inbusiness reported on Nov. 13, automation can affect less than 2% of tasks there.
According to Kazakh Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, AI typically transforms job functions rather than eliminates them. Due to that, employees can focus on complex creative tasks and enhance productivity.
Blue-collar work becomes popular with generation Z.
Young workers’ preference for skilled trades has become a noticeable trend. The first reason is that they perceive these roles as more secure in the context of automation. The second one is higher returns on vocational training. Meeting steady market demand is the third reason.
This trend is also confirmed by international research. Forbes reports that 37% of Generation Z are already working or planning to work in skilled trades. According to the New York Post, 42% of Generation Z are pursuing blue-collar jobs, including those with a college degree. Low starting salaries in office jobs and the desire to avoid student debt made them do it.
Nevertheless, there is a gradual automation in Kazakhstan.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection reports that wage and cost considerations slow down automation in Kazakhstan in comparison with high-income countries. Finance, telecommunications, transportation, and digital services will be among the most affected sectors. At the same time, such initiatives as the Atlas of New Professions and Competencies, including roles in robotics, digital ethics, and advanced technologies, support new professions.
So, the county takes support measures.
According to Kazakh legislation, employers must notify career centers of planned layoffs at least one month in advance. If automation affects workers, they receive state support in form of vocational retraining, employment promotion programs, and social benefits. As the ministry underlines, the government is committed to promote proactive employment policies. They hope that flexible learning, career guidance, and individualized retraining will help citizens adapt to new realities of the labour market.
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Read moreWorking hours in Kazakhstan are longer than in America, but salaries are lower
The World’s Hardest Working Countries 2025 report by Visual Capitalist shows that Kazakhstan is among the countries with the longest working weeks (38 hours on average).
In the USA an average working week is 36 hours, in Canada – 32, in the UK – 31 and in the Netherlands just 26.8 hours.
Turkmenistan has an average working week of 41.9 hours, then follows Tajikistan with 41 hours. The third place belongs to Uzbekistan, where people work an average of 40.4 hours, the fourth is Kyrgyzstan with 35.2 hours.
The shortest working weeks in the world are in the Netherlands (26.8 hours), Norway (27.1) and Austria (28.4) thanks to developed economies and strong labor productivity
The longest working week is in Bhutan (more than 54 hours).
Though the standard workweek in Kazakhstan is 40 hours, there are suggestions of a four-day workweek.
Spain, Japan, Belgium, Poland and several other countries have already tested this approach after the COVID-19 pandemic, and results were positive.
Some Kazakhstani businesses discussed adopting this model in 2023, but it has not been implemented yet.
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Read moreThe main cause of sale price hikes in the construction sector is personnel shortages
According to Beso Ortoidze, CEO of the development company «Arsi», the value of real estate and sale prices rise each day due to the personnel shortages.
As a study by the Business Association Index shows, the greatest sales price growth is expected in the construction sector. BAG index demonstrates that 21% of the surveyed companies have already raised their sales prices in the third quarter of 2025. 32% are expected to do this in the fourth quarter.
The problem is that, despite different opinions in the sector, the situation today is politically stable for ones and unstable for others. Detention impacts investors and the economic situation in the country negatively.
A growing trend for building materials and rising wages makes the real estate prices grow naturally.
To tell honestly, the price growth happened in 2023, when it was 30-35% per year, and for two years it was about 60%. It was not a sharp growth. The rise of real estate prices this year was 6-7%. Prices have stabilized for the second year in a row.
The global problems began in 2019. In 2019 an annual growth was 10%, but in 2022-2023, the increase of prices accelerated, setting a new benchmark. Before that, the price of one square meter was 800-900 dollars, now it is $1 500 on average.
Now, the market is set to accept this price. There are expectations that it is a temporary situation, and it would decrease, but experts believe that the price would remain. The main target now is not to let prices rise sharply in the next 2-3 years.
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Read moreRising wages and fewer low earners in Georgia’s job market
As data compiled by the research group PMCG showed, 985,975 people received a monthly salary in September 2025 (a 4.9 percent increase from August and a 2.6 percent rise compared to September last year, despite persistent unemployment).
According to economist Soso Archvadze, even a one-percent increase means tens of thousands of new jobs and an overall growth in salaries and improvement of the livelihoods of around 30,000 to 40,000 Georgians.
Also, the number of low-income earners has decreased.
As official statistics show, the share of people earning less than 600 lari per month declined to 12.5 percent in September, one percentage point lower than in August and three points lower than a year earlier. Simultaneously, the share of high-income earners, those making 2,400 lari or more, reached 33.6 percent, up half a point from August and 5.6 points from last September.
Nevertheless, economist Merab Janiashvili says that the information technology sector is the area that has grown sharply in recent years, particularly due to the increase of the number of foreigners working in Georgia (Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians).
According to him, 200 to 300 percent growth in the IT sector has certainly boosted the economy, but at the same time, many of these workers don’t pay taxes and contribute little in the way of social payments.
As Janiashvili also added, rising food prices and high levels of emigration are still the reasons of concern, despite Georgia’s overall strong growth rate. According to him, the impact of job growth depends on which sectors expand and which contract.
For instance, the increase in agriculture, where wages are lowest, makes a limited overall effect. In the opposite way, the increase in construction makes a clearly beneficial multiplier effect across the economy.
Nevertheless, inflation makes average wages appear higher than before. According to the economist, five years ago, 600 lari was considered a decent salary, but now its real value has fallen sharply. It is too early to speak about the improvement of the situation only because of the fact that fewer people earn under 600 lari. Many of them are nearly where they were before.
Economic growth above the regional average and an inflow of foreign professionals have made Georgia’s job market improve steadily since the pandemic years. According to analysts, the overall decline in low-income earners and the expansion of the middle-income group could signify a shift toward a more stable economy.
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Read moreHiring rules are simplified by Türkiye to boost ties with Turkic nations
As Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Resmi Gazeti (Official Newspaper of Türkiye) reported, Türkiye has reduced bureaucracy for Turkic-speaking foreigners, including citizens of Kazakhstan. These simplified employment rules provided them with broadened opportunities for professional activity.
A decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 10 amended legislation that dates back to the 1980s and simplified procedures to work in Türkiye without undergoing lengthy processes for traditional work permits.
Nevertheless, the military and law enforcement sectors remain are still closed to foreigners. Another move expected to increase workforce mobility within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and strengthen regional integration is to remove the requirement for Turkish citizenship for residence and employment.
However, there are still several requirements that Turkic-speaking foreigners should meet.
The first one is a valid residence permit in Türkiye. The second one is absence of threat to national security. Thirdly, all foreign diplomas and professional certificates must be recognized as equivalent to Turkish qualifications. Registration with relevant professional associations and chambers on the same basis as Turkish citizens is also an advantage.
The aim of the reform is to attract highly qualified specialists and support small and medium-sized businesses, but it will not grant foreigners the right to vote or run for public office.
As Istanbul-based journalist Zhamilya Abenova, who has lived in Türkiye for five years, said in an interview with Tengrinews, the problem is absence of a clear definition of a Turkic-origin foreigner.
Only a close examination clarified that Turkic-speaking residents of CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] countries (Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Turkmen and Azerbaijanis) do not benefit from special work conditions.
There are ten eligibility criteria in the document, but last two as the most important: the prove of inability to find work in their home country for reasons beyond their control, or belonging to an ethnic or cultural minority in their country of citizenship.
According to Abenova, the main target audience are Turkic peoples without their own sovereign states (Meskhetian Turks, Uyghurs and Crimean Tatars).
Abenova has obtained a tapu, a residence permit through property ownership, which does not grant the right to work. So, she also needs a work permit. To get it, she registered the company that contracts with Turkish universities and helps Kazakh students enroll and advises on education, medical care and life in Türkiye.
According to Abenova, Türkiye’s job market is not collapsing.
Nevertheless, inflation makes Turkish professionals, particularly doctors and engineers, seek jobs in Europe and the United States. The international recognition of Türkiye’s diplomas helps them.
Abenova also mentioned a regular indexation of salaries to inflation in Türkiye. Teachers currently earn $1,300 per month, police officers – $1,600, nurses – $1,400, and doctors in public hospitals – $1,720.
Unskilled workers can also easily find a job with the minimum wage of around 340,000 tenge ($632) per month.
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Read moreApplication of the 80-90-100 model in Serbia
A new law that comes into force on January, 1 2026 will allow Slovenian employees who are approaching retirement to spend less time at work if they wish.
Workers who are 58 years old or have at least 35 years of work experience will have two options of a reduced workweek. The first one is a “long weekend”, or having Fridays off, and the second one is working six hours per day.
They call this model 80-90-100 in Slovenia because of 80 percent working hours provided, 90 percent of the salary earned, and full contributions as if working 100 percent. Similar models have produced positive results in Iceland, Ireland, and Germany.
The Slovenian Ministry of Labour, headed by Luka Mesec of the Levica party, promoted the legislative changes. In case of success, the authorities in Slovenia will introduce additional pay for Saturday work, a mandatory Christmas bonus for all employees, and a 38-hour working week.
Despite the adoption of the new law by the Slovenian government, some ministers had doubts about the financial burden these measures might impose.
Though the effect of this low in Slovenia is still uncertain, NIN is thinking about the implementation of a similar approach in Serbia. The idea seems to be humane and fair, but employers worry about the cost of reduced working hours.
As Professor Mihail Arandarenko of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade told NIN, other European countries already offer similar benefits to workers.
According to the honorary president of the Serbian Employers’ Union, Nebojša Atanacković, the Slovenian model is humane and socially responsible, and employees in Serbia should warmly welcome it.
As the President of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Ivica Cvetanović, said in an interview with NIN, the emergence of new technologies would both make possible and facilitate the implementation of such a model in Serbia.
Employees, specifically older workers, will get further benefits from changes to labour
regulations in Slovenia. For example, dismissed workers in Slovenia will receive up to 130 percent of the average gross minimum wage during the first three months after termination of employment from 1 January 2026. In case if they do not find employment after that period, they will receive compensation up to 110 percent.
Higher hourly rates and improved working conditions will be offered to those engaged in public works. They also plan to stimulate employment of individuals over the age of 59 and to increase the permitted number of hours for occasional and temporary work. Pensioners’ monthly work limit will rise from 60 to 85 hours, consequently, the maximum income they can earn through employment will increase.
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Read moreThere are over 400 employment opportunities on the Regional Job Fair
Infostud’s largest online event in the region, The Regional Job Fair, has started. They designed it for everyone seeking employment or looking to change their career path.
The fair offers various job opportunities across multiple sectors. It runs from 14 to 21 October and brings together employers from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and North Macedonia.
Only in Serbia 38 companies have opened more than 450 job positions on this year’s fair. Over 700 vacancies from 100 employers are offered across the entire region. Real-time chat allows the participants to learn about working conditions, browse available positions, and connect directly with employers.
Notably, anyone can participate in this online fair from any location by visiting rs.regionalnisajamposlova.com.
Moreover, practical advice on how to overcome nervousness and approach job interviews with confidence will be provided on a webinar titled “Prepare for job hunting without fear and stress” during the fair.
More than 300,000 visitors made the Regional Job Fair the central meeting point for candidates and employers across the region last year.
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Read morePost-Pandemic Growth, Skills Gap, and 17 Resumes per Vacancy in Kazakhstan’s IT Market
New research by Ranking.kz shows that Kazakhstan’s IT labor market is expanding rapidly but facing growing mismatches between available skills and employer demand.
Also, the Bureau of National Statistics reports that the number of specialists in “computer programming, consulting, and related services” has more than tripled in recent years. Notably, in 2020 IT employment increase by 76.7 percent (from 6,900 to 12,100 workers).
There are 19,500 officially registered programmers, developers, and AI specialists as of June 2025.
According to 2024 survey by Kolesa Group, the median IT specialist is a 26-year-old male with three to five years of experience, working in fintech as a mid-level data analyst, earning approximately 700,000 tenge ($1,300) per month, and having switched jobs twice.
IT headcount of international companies rose by 17 to 37 percent between 2021 and 2024. Meanwhile, the share of employees aged 26-30 increased by 15 percentage points.
Another problem is competition for jobs. There are just 580 vacancies on the national electronic labor exchange list and 9,700 resumes in the “IT and telecommunications” category (nearly 17 applicants per position). The highest disparity, with 655 resumes for just four openings, was in the Mangystau region. Then followed Almaty (1,500 candidates for 133 roles) and Astana (1,000 applicants for 124 positions).
The main criterion is work experience: one to five years of experience is required for 61 percent of vacancies, and more than five years for 8 percent. Junior specialists can apply for only 31 percent vacancies. Meanwhile, only 22.9 percent of job seekers are senior-level, and 48 percent are entry-level.
As Ekaterina Rehert, founder of DataBoom, said, everyone from small businesses to multinationals, use AI today. It raises the bar for employees, making basic tools no longer enough.
The data by Kolesa Group shows the rise of IT salaries by 40 percent between 2021 and 2024. An even steeper increase was reported by the Bureau of National Statistics: salaries in programming and consulting grew by 2.5 times, reaching 1.2 million tenge in Q2 2025. The growth of wage gap between IT professionals and the national average attained 1.7 times in 2020 and 2.8 times in 2025.
The highest salaries (1.6 million tenge or $2,900 per month) belonged to machine learning engineers, then followed data scientists (1.1 million) and data warehouse specialists (1.08 million). The salary of Big Data professionals in finance attained 986,300 tenge, while it is just 177,600 tenge for similar roles in the public sector.
As The World Economic Forum forecasts, by 2030, approximately 22 percent of jobs will undergo transformation, 170 million new roles will appear and 82 million will vanish. Automation and digitalization will reshape nearly 39 percent of job skills. The roles of Big Data specialists, fintech engineers (+92%), AI and ML experts (+83%), software developers (+57%), and data analysts (+41%) will undergo the fastest growth.
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