AKIPRESS.COM – Over 3 million people in Uzbekistan found employment during the first six months of 2025, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was told during a presentation on new approaches in employment and vocational education. These initiatives are already yielding results, with the poverty rate in the country falling to 6.8% as of July 1, the presidential press service reported.
Despite progress, the quality of professional education remains a key factor in boosting employment. There’s a need for greater cooperation with employers, improved training standards, and active private sector involvement. A significant challenge lies in educational programs not fully aligning with labor market demands.
Current labor regulations also create difficulties for businesses, especially small enterprises. Digital technologies are not fully utilized in the hiring process, and existing rules don’t sufficiently motivate employers to openly post vacancies. This leads to distorted statistics and hinders accurate labor market analysis and targeted training efforts.
According to new approaches, employment bodies will shift from supervisory roles to partner structures that serve employers. This includes proposals to abolish fines for not providing vacancy information or refusing referred candidates. This move aims to help agencies gather reliable data and effectively guide job seekers, while the final hiring decision remains with the employer.
A specialized electronic platform will be created to implement this model, initially launched in Tashkent as a pilot before expanding nationwide.
Vacancies that are difficult to fill will be prioritized for vocational training programs, allowing for more focused skills development.
It is also planned to attract private sector representatives to vocational skills centers and specializing certain centers in specific industries.
A new three-tiered system will be introduced. This includes free online video courses and “professional vouchers” for working citizens to undergo retraining or professional development.
President Mirziyoyev emphasized that training qualified personnel is a crucial factor in reducing unemployment and poverty in the country.
