What kinds of jobs do foreigners have in Kazakhstan

Tengrinews.kz - The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Kazakhstan has reported on the number of foreign workers in the country.

According to the ministry's press service, as of February 1, a total of 13,072 foreign citizens were working in Kazakhstan under official permits.

The foreign workforce (FWS) permits are categorized as follows:

• 568 permits for executives and their deputies (first category),
• 2,528 permits for heads of structural divisions (second category),
• The majority belong to the third (specialists) and fourth (qualified workers) categories—4,787 and 987 people, respectively,
• 672 people are engaged in seasonal work,
• 3,530 people are employed under corporate transfers.

Currently, 1,710 employers in Kazakhstan hire foreign workers. They employ over 383,100 Kazakh citizens, making up 96.6% of the total workforce.

Industries with the highest number of foreign workers:

• Construction – 5,343 people,
• Mining and quarrying – 1,360 people,
• Manufacturing – 1,338 people,
• Administrative and support services – 1,089 people,
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing – 688 people.

Top countries of origin for labor migrants:

• China – 4,778 people,
• Turkey – 1,158 people,
• India – 1,121 people,
• Uzbekistan – 623 people.

It is worth noting that Kazakhstan sets and distributes an annual quota for attracting foreign specialists. For 2025, the total quota is set at 0.2% of the country’s workforce, which amounts to 14,800 permits.