Kazakhstanis are desperate looking for employment, reporting high job competition

The labor market is a living and constantly changing system, easily affected by various factors such as the economic conjuncture, technological changes, seasons, job seekers’ behavior and employers’ strategies. Sometimes, the number of job seekers significantly exceeds the number of job offers. However, this does not necessarily mean that there is a problem.

According to our survey, when the job competition index is within the range of 4.0 to 7.9, it is safe to say that the job competition is moderate. In this scenario, there are several job seekers per vacancy, which means that an employer has the choice between candidates, whereas each job seeker has a solid chance to find a job. This ratio is widely considered healthy, signaling that the interests of both sides are well-balanced.

Market competition and activities are absolutely normal; they are part of the natural process. On the one hand, people more often look for new opportunities, examining different companies. On the other hand, recruiting has become a big deal for any business. More generally, our market is becoming more natural, flexible and agile. This is a good sign for both sides of the process.

These trends emphasize the need for job seekers to constantly improve their skills and be flexible to market requirements. For employers, this marks the necessity to be able to be competitive in terms of their job offers to attract and keep talented workers.

In Q1 of 2025, the job competition index stood at 7.4, which means that there were about seven candidates per job vacancy. Over this period, the most active job seekers were in the following sectors:

• Sales and client servicing – 10.5% out of all job applications and a 59.2% increase year-on-year (YoY);
• Blue-collar staff – 8%, an 82% increase YoY;
• Domestic staff – 7.8%, a 57.6% increase YoY;
• Sporting clubs, fitness centers and beauty salons – 6.5% (+53%);
• Marketing, advertising and PR – 6.1% (+59.3%).

It’s hard to say how long this trend will persist because the labor market could be easily affected by many factors such as the economic situation, migration processes and technological changes. We cannot see the future, but we know from the data we possess that the market is likely to stay active thanks to both sides – employers and job seekers.

As job competition becomes tougher, more and more job seekers are seeking new skills and even changing their professional career trajectory altogether. This is good for employers: they have a choice and can hire the best employees on the market.

We can also observe a high level of competition in several sectors where job seekers outnumber job offers. For example, for the security sector, the rate of competition is 22.5, and 15.6 for the sector called «Strategy, investment and consulting.» In the sector «Top and middle-level management,» the competition level stands at 13.9. This means that sometimes job offers do not align with market expectations. In this case, we recommend taking a look at related employment, improving digital skills and staying flexible during the process of finding a new job.