Labor Force

Like other Central Asian states, Uzbekistan has a large labor force. Almost half of its population are people of able-bodied age. This indicator is somewhat higher in many CIS regions, where the share of children under 16 years of age is considerably lower. Every year, approximately 200-250,000 people join the labor force, which emphasizes the special importance of a rational job placement strategy for young people.

The problem of a rational use of the labor force is addressed by the Law "On Employment" of January 13, 1992. It established the legal, economic and organizational conditions of citizens' rights to work and employment and also provided relevant guarantees during the period of transition to a market economy.
The employment level in Uzbekistan was 6,619,100 in 1985 and 8,257,000 in 1993. Out of all employed persons in 1993, 77% were accounted for by the material production sector and 23% by the on production sector.

Table 8
STRUCTURE OF LABOR FORCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN, THOUSANDS
                                                                                                                 1993, as % of:
                       1980     1985     1993         1980     1985
Labor force, total     7766.9   8959.7   10663.3      137.3    119.0
At able-bodied ago     7502.9   8692.8   10462.6      139.4    120.4
Elderly people
and teenagers
employed in
social
production             264.0    266.9    200.7        76.0     75.2

 Of which:
Elderly people         185.6    202.4    127.3        68.6     62.0
Teenagers              78.4     64.5     73.4         93.6     113.8

The 1994 data showed that the share of employment as a percentage of the total population was 37%, and as a percentage of able-bodied people, 77.5%. The structure of employment is currently undergoing considerable changes. This is connected with an increasing level of self-employment during the transition to a market economy, the development of small business and different forms of entrepreneurship.

An analysis of the distribution of employment by sectors shows the following: the largest share in 1994 fell to the agrarian sector-44.4%; industry and construction - 19.5%; health, physical training, social security, education, culture, arts and science - about 20%. Employment in state administration, insurance and credit agencies, financial bodies and the pension system is gradually diminishing from 2.1% of all employment in 1980 to 1.4% in 1994. The yearly average number of workers and employees in the national economy in 1980 was 4,168,700 and in 1993 - 4,903,300.

The problem of employment is increasing in acuteness during the current transition period, because rates of employment in production and non production sectors are being reduced in order to improve economic effectiveness and work efficiency. The guarantees of social protection accorded to people deserve special attention. The employment policies of Uzbekistan should open opportunities for broad public participation in social production, in the household sector, in subsidiary small-holdings, cooperatives, small enterprises and joint ventures, all based on different forms of ownership.

The problem of women's labor and seasonal agricultural work e.g. cotton harvesting, should be efficiently resolved. There is a danger also that young people are becoming too focussed on business and trade, and that form study is becoming a secondary consideration to them.

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