Samruk-Kazyna plans to cut 11% of its administrative and management staff in Astana, aiming to save about 5 billion tenge (roughly $10.5 million) in salary costs starting in 2026, the fund told Interfax-Kazakhstan.
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The reduction will affect 729 employees, or about 11% of administrative and management personnel. The average monthly salary for those roles was about $1,500.
Samruk-Kazyna oversees several of Kazakhstan’s major state-linked companies, including Kazakhtelecom, Kazatomprom, KazMunayGas and KEGOC.
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The planned layoffs follow criticism from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev over what he described as an excessive number of so-called «left-bank» managers — a colloquial term for white-collar workers based in Astana’s modern administrative district, where government institutions and state-owned companies are concentrated.
Tokayev said many of these employees spend working hours in hotel lobbies and cafes rather than performing their duties, citing lunchtime gatherings as an example of inefficiency.
