Salary increase and vocational education: measures taken to improve labor market

As Nariman Mukushev noted, in order to maximize the employment of citizens who have been trained under the Enbek State Program, the ministry is taking a number of measures.

Therefore, first, the requirements are set for the educational institutions and centers themselves. This is the presence of an appropriate material and technical base, the use of elements of dual training and employment of at least 60% of people trained.

The second step includes the work on the formation of a register of these educational centers and institutions. This is done in order to form and approve a list of those professions and skills in the direction of which it is necessary to conduct direct training.

“The whole program is aimed at teaching exactly what is in demand in the market. We already know this, we have a Labor Exchange, through which the whole picture is visible. Forming the overall picture together with the market, the Ministry of Education and Science, Atameken NCE, we form the target areas for which we need to be trained,” Mukushev explained.

Third, a lot of work is being done in the field of digitalization, which has an impact on the labor market: it creates new directions, requirements, and format of work. In the framework of the program, the ministry closely interacts with employers so that they, in turn, prepare, including retrain, employees for the modern realities of work in the IT space.

Fourth, integrated measures of state support are being taken for training personnel with higher technical and vocational education under the project “Mangilik El Zhastary — Industriyaga!” Followed by consolidation of graduates in the regions of study.

Speaking about employment indicators in the framework of the Enbek program, the vice minister noted that of the 31 thousand who completed short-term vocational training, 18 thousand were employed the highest rates in Akmola, Kostanay, Almaty, North Kazakhstan regions.

In the second direction of the Program, the direction of microcredit is actively developing to support start-up projects and the creation of new jobs. As part of microcredit in rural and urban areas, as of October, 42 billion tenge was mastered, including 31 billion tenge in rural areas and 11 billion tenge in cities.

Mukushev noted that in ​​microcrediting for issuing loans, besides analyzing and evaluating, first of all, the question of the relevance of a certain direction is being considered.

“Business plans are carefully studied and only then a decision is made to issue funds for the project. Nearly 81% of microloans are issued in the field of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. These are exactly the industries in which it is necessary to attract start-ups for the development of the entire industry and for bringing this sphere to a new level,” said Mukushev.

At the same time, the vice minister stressed that the ministry is actively studying the issue of developing the wage system.

“As part of the Head of State’s Address, work is already underway to raise the minimum wage from 28 to 42 thousand tenge and all issues related to wage increases are actively supported as part of the development of productive employment among young people,” he said.

In his turn, Acting Director of the Department of Employment and Labor Market Development Zh. Dulatov, added that today the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population is actively cooperating with the Agency for Civil Service Affairs in order to develop the introduction of a new methodology for revising civil servants' wages.

“Two state bodies and two regional regions are already participating in the pilot mode, where wages have actually increased 2-2.5 times. Starting next year, this methodology will be applied in other government agencies and regions. We hope that the new method of calculating the salaries of civil servants will be much more attractive for young professionals,” Dulatov added.

Recall that the Program for the Development of Productive Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship for 2017–2021 covered with employment measures more than 563 thousand citizens. Of these, 458 thousand people were employed, including 327 thousand — for permanent jobs.

“The Qazaq Times”