NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population presented an expanded Atlas of New Professions and competencies to the representatives of central government bodies. The expansion of the Atlas aims to introduce innovative strategies for professional development and keep up with economic trends affecting employment opportunities in the country, the ministry’s press service reported on May 12.
The main page of the atlas of new professions and competencies website.
The implementation of the Atlas project was part of the election campaign of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as a tool for tackling unemployment. The project was later initiated as a part of the Biz Birgemiz (We are Together) national campaign that started on June 19, 2019.
In 2020, the unemployment rate in Kazakhstan reached 4.9 percent, increasing by 0.1 percentage points. 8.7 million out of 18 million were employed, including two million self-employed citizens. The pandemic, according to the experts, served as one of the key factors of this dynamic.
When presenting the newest version of the atlas, Head of BTS Digital company and partner of the project Sayasat Nurbek highlighted its potential to improve labor market forecasting, as well as higher education programs and professional standards, which makes the atlas a valuable tool for the government and its stakeholders.
Sayasat Nurbek.
“With the help of the Atlas of New Professions, it is possible to predict the needs for various careers in each sector of the economy, which will positively affect the accuracy of future strategic development programs. In addition, this will affect the understanding and interest of the general population in involvement in training in relevant skills or professions that will be in demand,” said Nurbek.
The atlas contains an analysis of the main technological trends that are projected to critically change the labor market in nine priority economic sectors, including mining and metallurgical complex, oil and gas industry, agriculture, transport and logistics, mechanical engineering, ICT, energy, tourism and construction. The predictive algorithm of the Atlas is based on rapid foresight technology with the participation of industry experts, government agencies and industry associations. By predicting changes in the labor market for the next five to 10 years, the Atlas identified 239 new careers, and 95 professions undergoing a major transformation and 129 vocations currently in decline.
Based on the atlas services, the Khromtau Mining and Technical Higher College has recently opened a new training program titled “Operator of unmanned aerial vehicles for the mining industry.” New career fields highlighted by the Atlas that have been included in the professional education register of the Kazakh Ministry of Education and Science are robotics and embedded systems, nanomaterials products technology, remotely piloted aircraft systems, additive manufacturing technologies and Building Information Model (BIM) technology.
