The Problem of Employment of College Graduates in the Labour Market of Kazakhstan in the Context of Regional Differences

Abstract

In modern conditions in Kazakhstan and other countries of the post-Soviet space, the problems of employment of university graduates and the fullest realization of their professional and personal potential are becoming increasingly relevant. At the same time, graduated youth faces a complex of institutional problems in the labour market: – A small number of free jobs, – Bureaucratization, and bribe requests by employers, – Mismatch of acquired knowledge with vacant jobs, – Low degree of compliance of educational programs in higher education institutions with market conditions, – Lack of infrastructure in universities to interact with the labour market, etc. All this leads to dissatisfaction of young people with their professional and social status, to their choice of a profession which not corresponding to their specialty, to the use of personal ties of their family to the detriment of their own desires and qualifications, and therefore to the reproduction of imbalances in the economic system as a whole. Based on the author’s empirical research, the paper describes the development of the market economy of Kazakhstan, and identifies regional problems of its development. It is shown that the transition of the economy from planned and centralized to the market one has led to significant changes in the management of the economy. The authors characterize the modern economy of Kazakhstan, indicating that the uneven distribution of inhabitants in rural districts, the low level of development of rural areas and specialization of production creates an uneven distribution of labour resources, which gives rise to particular problems at labour markets. Youth labour strategies are associated with the economic well-being of areas, that is, the regions. It is shown that the regions are classified not according to the territorial principle adopted in the political-geographical respect, but according to the peculiarities of the labour market. Universities and their graduates are the main source of personnel for the economy of any region, but the demand for specialists depends on the structure of the labour market, the level of development of the national economy in the region, production relations, and socio-demographic characteristics. The paper presents the results of an empirical study of the authors (1.5 thousand respondents were interviewed), showing the problems of young specialists and the imbalances in the modern labour market in Kazakhstan. Recommendations are given on improving the youth employment system.