The coronavirus pandemic has adjusted the labour market in terms of both unemployment and skills on demand. During the lockdown, many companies have switched their focus on digital communication with the world around and the demand for remote employment has grown.
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“We have to place you on unpaid furlough for one month until the emergency rule is on in the city,” these words were said by directors of companies in spring 2020 out of the blue. Few people thought about the horrible virus that reached Kyrgyzstan. The people who remained unemployed temporarily could think only about one thing, “How will we pay our bills?”
As the furlough in some companies was extended for one more months, and then for three months, the question “How will we pay our bills?” now sounded otherwise, “How will we survive?”.
Where could you turn for help?
According to the law on promotion and employment, registration of the unemployed is based on their declarations. Citizens are deemed employed unless they come to the special authority and declare they are unemployed. This is why the official unemployment rate in the republic is as low as 3 per cent.
“Yes, we do understand that the official statistics does not show the real picture. Previously, the ministry of economy predicted that over 700 thousand citizens would be left jobless during the pandemic, while the State Migration Service predicted that over 100 thousand unemployed citizens would return from labour migration. Recently, the foreign ministry stated that over 56 thousand citizens arrived from other countries. However, only 283 individuals came to the Ministry of Labour and Social Development during this period,” said Nargiza Turkebekova, acting chief of Office for Promotion of Employment of Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic.
However, the challenge to gather documents that prove the absence of job, of self-employment license, of social expenditures and land allotment, and getting the unemployment allowance afterwards in the amount of 300 som (3.55 dollars) per month seems dismaying to many people.
However, even after going through all bureaucratic procedures, the unemployed may not be entitled to an unemployment allowance. The policy of the special authority is designed to save budgeting funds, and officials try to use active measures first – to employ citizens registered with employment services. But many job-seekers do not consider this option seriously because domestic companies seek mainly blue-collar workers at public employment services. They seek gas and arc welders, hairdressers, PC operators, accountants with 1C knowledge, cooks, seamstresses, circuit installers, and car drivers.
Based on these preferences, we can assume that the national economy needs specialists whose work is to make industrial enterprises, construction companies and municipal facilities work. Often those who decide to work manually (blue-collar jobs require physical rather than intellectual labour) need to undergo additional training. Ministry of Labour and Social Development gives this opportunity free of charge.
According to the ministry, over 7 thousand people in 2020 underwent training and 75 per cent were employed.
Once again, the pandemic proved the difference between the official statistics and the real data. The methodology of calculations, according to business analyst Ainura Chekirova, is based on the applications of those people who decided to become officially unemployed. However, there are companies that do not discharge their employees, but place them on unpaid furlough. During this period, the employee may not apply to employment services as they are not officially unemployed. Meanwhile, they do not get salaries and look for every opportunity to support themselves.
The dismissal procedure is a very painful one for companies because the labour legislation imposes many requirements on employers before employee gets dismissed. Therefore, employers try to avoid this procedure as much as possible and retain the staff by furloughing them, cutting their wages or scope of work. The employee seems to be on the staff, yet their functions change significantly, said Ainura Chekirova.
As long as the state services regarding the support of unemployed citizens do not become highly sought, the gap between the official statistics and the actual state of things will remain as it is now.
What should be done?
We cannot say that there have been and still no new proposals on the labour market during the pandemic. New vacancies emerge on online services that help job seekers find a job every day. However, employers produce such strict conditions to job seekers that the unemployed must learn to be literally versatile. Therefore, most of job seekers are filtered out at the early stage of resume review. So, not all job seekers will see employers face to face.
The most important skills that are needed for successful employment, according to Eliza Asilbek, the expert in human resources management, are strong interpersonal skills, ability to behave in the society and leadership role. In other words, the so-called soft skills are already dominating over hard skills. For example, if a job seeker is an introvert who cannot say hi or ask a few questions to their potential employer while riding in a lift, their chances to get the job are very low, according to the expert.
However, we must admit that it is hard to remain an extravert amid remote work that has become common for some companies and organisations during the pandemic. According to experts, many companies switched their focus on digital communications with the outside world during the lockdown. Therefore, the demand for SMM specialists, digital marketing managers, mobile developers, programmers, targeting specialists, cyber security specialists has soared. No doubt the IT sector, according to expert estimates, will be expanded and new jobs will emerge every year.
“The pandemic not only removed some opportunities, but also opened new ones. Even now, if you live in front of your office, you have to work remotely because the demand for remote work has risen significantly. The expert market is not local anymore. 50 per cent of IT specialists employed in Kyrgyzstan have nothing to do with the local market,” said Andrei Gurinov, general director of a large IT company based in Kyrgyzstan.
According to the statement for the 4th quarter of 2020, the revenues of the Hi-Tech park increased by 20 per cent and amounted to 1.167 billion som or 13.8 million dollars.
Andrei Gurinov, for example, is willing to hire up to 30 persons a year for high-paying jobs, but he cannot find such people in the labour market of Kyrgyzstan. In 2020, the company placed only one announcement to invite interns and received 460 applications from job seekers within a very short period of time.
Today, according to a representative of one of large IT companies in Kyrgyzstan, nearly 800-900 individuals have a degree in IT, yet they cannot find a job because they don’t have expert knowledge. However, the IT industry conducts a dialogue with the educational sphere, he complained.
Previously, representatives of domestic companies went to work to universities in order to hire the best students. However, today competition is very high as everyone attends seven-month courses and employers have to pay for internship at any given large IT company. However, it turned out that attending courses is not enough to become a programmer. One has to study constantly, sharpen their skills, and even work without pay.
“Get rid of your illusions implying that IT occupations are affordable to the chosen one. This is not so! They are affordable to all hardworking people. A job seeker will be able to earn using their brain in a new occupation 2.5-3 years later, and only 10 per cent of what is shown on slide show. If they think they would earn high wages after the training, they are wrong. Such salaries can be reached only in 10 years. [...] If you don’t know English, you can divide the salary by two, because IT area is a very strict area,” Andrei Gurinov said.
Salaries of highly sought IT professions in 2021. According to 50 Best Jobs in America for 2021
Education gets behind
Today, industry associations and domestic companies often function as the state in terms of planning of training and strategy, said Eliza Asilbek, the expert in human resources management. Although there are 50 higher educational institutions in the republic that provide up to 38-40 thousand certified specialists, according to the ministry of education.
However, there is no official statistics about the exact number of specialists lacking in any given economic sector, even if we take into account formal sector only. Every market participant is responsible for oneself.
“It’s unclear what happens in economy and who we need? What was in the past? We kept record of which sector needs what specialists and we referred specialists there, and we prepared new specialists based on this knowledge. Upon their graduation, they could find a job soon. Now we have chaos in this situation. We don’t know in which sector demand exceeds supply and in which sector it is otherwise. That’s why we have good lawyers working as couriers or taxi drivers,” said Asilbek.
Nevertheless, officials and public figures have repeatedly said that the labour market is crowded with lawyers and economists (these professions are considered prestigious for some reason), and needs workers badly. Their low interest for young people, according to them, is the main problem of the current labour market.
The standard system of education implies trade training after completion of the 9th and 11th grades. Therefore, the ministry of education counts on the revision of the system of education in secondary vocational schools. At the end of 2020, the agency approved the methodology of demand and supply analysis in the regional labour market for colleges. Therefore, it recommended to the latter to use three methods of review and analysis of demand and supply in the labour market:
- Review and analysis of sources of information on needs in qualifications and skills based on the regional development;
- Analysis of employment of graduates;
- Analysis of information on manpower needs based on direct questioning of employers in the region.
Based on the results, colleges must prepare specialists that will be definitely employed after graduation. Whether this mechanism will be applied to the country’s higher education system has not yet been announced. The only thing we know is that today universities rely on the preferences and needs of the prospective students. If they want to become lawyers and economists, educational institutions cannot close these departments. At the end of 2020, the most vital areas for training were:
- “Economics and management”;
- “Pedagogical sciences”;
- “Liberal arts”;
- “Computing equipment and information technology”.
Today, experts recommend to not waiting for support from the state, but going ahead and getting additional education. This is the only way to stay competitive in the post-lockdown labour market. If, for example, you decide to master a new profession, you should not be afraid to be an intern and to exchange your time for the experience that will then be required for employment.
Meanwhile, experts urge the state as a partner to actively involve the business because entrepreneurs know how to restore business activity and create jobs in a short time.
“Unemployment is a social burden, tension in society. It leads to an increase in the crime rate, domestic violence cases, various diseases, and an unhealthy environment in the country. The state must feel the needs of the population and solve its problems. If the state ventures upon bold reforms in certain sectors of the economy, this will certainly attract enterprises,” said Ainura Chekirova, an expert in business regulation.
Currently, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic is completing the drafting of a new programme to promote employment of population for the next 5 years. In this document, the specialists of the agency propose to subsidize employers, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses who create new jobs. The details of this document have not been disclosed yet. But the acting chief of the Office for Promotion of Employment of Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, Nargiza Turkebekova, suggested that, most likely, there will be tax exemptions. However, it is difficult to say whether the Ministry of Finance will support this initiative.
Non-traditional labour market
The COVID-19 pandemic hit only the traditional labour market, while online labour markets succeed. The freelance market, according to its participants, exploded in 2020 because of the inflow of new participants. Millions of job seekers rushed to dozens of freelance markets around the world. Moreover, employers, representatives of foreign companies recognising the “beauty” of remote employees, started to employ them for their projects.
The most popular recruitment site is UpWork with over 10 million registered accounts. The key advantage of such platforms is per hour pay and the possibility to enter into long-term contracts with foreign customers.
Dmitry Serebryakov, the creator of the freelance community UpWork in Kyrgyzstan, said that the highest-paid occupations are web or mobile app developers. The second place belongs to motion and graphic designers, video production, the third place belongs to marketing specialists, copyrighters, and translators.
“Here the key is a good knowledge of English. Nevertheless, many freelancers using online translators earn good money. [...] Newcomers can count on 20 dollars per hour, average users – 30-40 dollars per hour, experienced users – 40-60 dollars per hours, and rare specialists who resolve some issues immediately can earn 100 dollars per hour,” said Serebryakov.
However, we should keep in mind that the number of freelancers is growing every day, which leads to the decline in the cost of services. For example, if you are ready to perform a task for 20 dollars per hour, a specialist from India or Pakistan can offer to do the same for 2 dollars per hour. According to newcomers, users with advanced accounts, strong portfolio and thousands of feedbacks from employers get highest pays. Anyway, this is a good opportunity to earn.
However, if you stay on there, you will never want to get back to the local market, according to users. Why? According to experienced freelancers, domestic companies do not have the culture of doing business and communication with job seekers: on the one hand, employers want to get, for example, the second Facebook with the average pay in Kyrgyzstan, but, on the other hand, they behave “very rudely and arrogantly.” In foreign countries, customers do their best and make good job offers to attract the best experienced workers. They have to specify the salary, at least.
“Local companies do not understand that their closed policy only repels specialists. Recently, I have applied for a job offered by a mobile provider of Kyrgyzstan and I still do not know how much they pay to the specialists of my profile. The only thing I learned is that the internship was 3 months long. They said that all information would be available after the interview and the probation period. I don’t need it because I can get a job via internet and I can get all information about the pay and even secure myself against disputed situations,” Dmitry Serebryakov said.
By the way, domestic IT companies started to specify salary ranges now. A job seeker can get publicly available information about minimum and maximum salaries they can earn after passing all selection stages.
However, the development of freelance market in Kyrgyzstan, which can solve the problem of employment, exacerbates the brain drain situation. According to Azamat Burzhuev, the deputy director of Tunduk public enterprise, IT companies have lots of money now and they entice away specialists from Russian, Belarus and former Soviet republics.
“Today there is a labour piracy war going on and we already face it. A significant brain drain is expected now. If we do not take measures, we can lose a definite number of specialists. This will take us back,” Burzhuev said.
Main photo: mayak-74.ru
This article was prepared as part of the Giving Voice, Driving Change – from the Borderland to the Steppes Project.