Kazakhstan PM urges to staff oil and gas projects with local workforce

At yesterday’s extended sitting at the O&G Ministry Kazakhstan’s PM Serik Akhmetov called the country’s Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev to make sure more Kazakhstan workforce is employed with oil companies. “Currently a lot of Kazakhstan specialists with a university degree and school leavers are out of work. Foreign companies – despite their nicely looking presentations on employment figures – keep on attracting workforce from abroad. Some important and rare specialists are truly needed. But I want to emphasize that unqualified workforce is imported from China. The Labor Ministry in partnership with the Education Ministry and Regional Governors’ offices are to work out specific suggestions on how to ensure employment of domestic workforce, including within large-scaled projects such as Tengiz, Karachagan, Kashagan”, the PM said. The PM urged it is important to ensure employment of fresh graduates holding degrees in Oil and Gas majors, including holders of the state-run Bolashak scholarship that covers tuition fees at best international universities for brightest young Kazakhstanis.