Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2001)

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Committee notes with interest the information provided in the Government's report received in September 2023 about the establishment of 21 labour mobility centres (LMC) in regional centres and megacities under the Social Code since 1 July 2023. The Committee further notes that the main task of the new LMC is to increase the effectiveness of the regional employment policy tailored to local specifics. The Committee also notes the information on the website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (primeminister.kz) which indicates that the LMC will promote not only labour mobility within the administrative region but also inter-district labour migration to reduce the country's unemployment rate. The Committee further observes that as of September 2023, the number of Career centres is 215, and they operate in all districts and all cities of regional importance. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the number, nature, scope, and impact of the activities of the labour mobility centres and refers also to its comments on the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122). The Committee, further, requests the Government to provide updated statistical information on the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of persons placed in employment by such offices.

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation with the social partners. Regarding the consultations with social partners, the Government refers to a meeting on 25 August 2023 of the National Tripartite Commission for Social Partnership and the Regulation of Social and Employment Relations, which considered six social and labour issues, including measures to ensure employment. In addition, the Government refers to the entry into force of a General Agreement with national trade union associations and national employers' associations for 2021–23 and the adoption of a corresponding Action Plan. The Committee notes that the Plan includes a section (Ensuring Employment) within the framework of which the Government and social partners worked together to implement the Employment Roadmap for 2020–21 to ensure employment and create additional jobs. The Committee requests the Government to continue giving particulars of the arrangements made for the cooperation of representative organizations of employers and workers in the organization and operation of the employment service and in the development of the employment service policy.

Article 6. Activities of the employment service. Contribution of the public employment service (PES) to employment promotion. The Committee notes the concerns of OECD, expressed in 2021 in the Report “Skills Strategy for Kazakhstan: Assessment and Recommendations” (Chapter “Key insights and recommendations for Kazakhstan”) that jobseekers in Kazakhstan are not motivated or are little motivated to register with the PES because of low quality of services provided, cumbersome registration procedures and lack of focus on vulnerable groups who are most in need. In this respect, the Committee observes that the Government has reported under its report on Convention No. 122 the creation of a skills training architecture with special emphasis on digital learning through a single portal for online training in skills launched in July 2021 by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. The main objective of the Portal is to increase the population’s education and professional qualifications by encouraging career development. Recalling the importance of the PES to reach the objectives set in national employment policies, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether and how the PES is used as a central piece to provide key employment services, including vocational training and learning. The Committee further asks the Government to provide up-to-date information on the measures taken to improve the accessibility and quality of PES and to motivate jobseekers to register to public employment centres.The Committee, further, requests the Government to provide detailed information on activities of the PES to contribute to the employment promotion.

Article 7. Measures for particular categories of workers. The Committee welcomes the detailed information about the measures provided by the Government within the framework of the National Entrepreneurship Development Project for 2021-2025. These measures include providing government grants for citizens from socially vulnerable groups, subsidizing jobs to adapt citizens facing specific barriers to finding jobs, youth internships and Silver Age project, addressed to persons of pre-retirement age. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the concrete measures taken to meet the needs of young people, persons with disabilities and other particular categories of jobseekers, as well as updated information on their impact.

Article 11. Cooperation between public and private employment agencies. The Government indicates that as of 22 September 2023, the number of private employment agencies (PEA) is 42, predominantly represented in major cities and regional centres. As of 1 September 2023, 4,039 people (137 people from rural areas) had contacted PEA regarding labour mediation, of whom 1,542 people were previously unemployed, 949 people were placed in employment through PEA during the reporting period (80 people from rural areas), of whom 543 were previously unemployed. In addition, the Government states that to expand the network of the employment system throughout the country and simplify the application process for job seekers and employers, work is ongoing to outsource labour intermediation and employment services for the unemployed to PEA. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the practical cooperation between the public employment services and private employment agencies and on the outcome of this cooperation in order to achieve the optimal operation of the labour market.

Furthermore, noting that private employment agencies can, in collaboration with a well-functioning public employment service, play a critical role in improving labour market efficiency, the Committee wishes to draw attention to the ILO Campaign to promote the joint ratification of Convention No. 88 and the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181). The Committee therefore invites the Government to consider ratifying also Convention No. 181, as it represents the most up-to-date instrument in the area of private employment services which recognizes the role of these agencies to complement and contribute to achieving the effective implementation of the objectives of Convention No. 88.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee welcomes the detailed statistics provided by the Government regarding the numbers of unemployed people and job placements by economic sectors. In this context, the Government indicates that 181,900 persons have been employed on a permanent basis and 163,800 – in temporary jobs. The highest number of persons (108,500) have been employed in the public sector, followed by the youth internships (19,300 persons) and the social sector (16,100 persons). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the application of the Convention in practice.