Comment: Turkmen Unemployed Ignored and Abused

Although the unemployed in Turkmenistan have legal recognition and the right to claim an allowance, the reality is that the law is ignored, as the government refuses to admit anyone is jobless, and consequently will not pay benefits. 

Since the Turkmen government has declared itself in favour of market reforms, it needs to realised that economic restructuring and the ensuing change to labour relations will inevitably lead to a sharp rise in unemployment as companies modernise, streamline and lay off staff.

Official unemployment figures suggest that only about five per cent of the working-age population is not in work. Even these extremely conservative figures are kept a closely-guarded secret. However, independent estimates indicate that the true number of jobless people is half as much again, or even double the official figure, and could be as high as 240,000 out of a total population of five million.

The main categories of people seeking work include those who have been made redundant or have moved location, and demobilised servicemen.

These people have no steady income and their access to medical services is limited, yet they are not counted as officially unemployed and are not eligible to receive benefits.

This happens despite a 1991 employment law and subsequent regulations concerning labour exchanges that appear to conform to internationally-recognised standards. The legislation has never been effective as none of the systems needed for that to happen are in place.

For example, the law requires employers to pay mandatory contributions to fund unemployment benefits. But the tax legislation makes no provision for this when it sets out the various items which employers are obliged to pay.

The government’s employment service, later replaced by employment exchanges, refused to register applicants, so automatically they were disbarred from claiming benefits.

President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov recently outlined a new strategy based on integration with the global economy, with a special emphasis on human resources. Yet there is an unavoidable downside to such market-oriented reforms – falling numbers of jobs and higher unemployment figures.

The authorities would do well to make an overall assessment and forecast of labour demand, and consider setting up special funds to support the unemployed. This presupposes a unified agency in charge of employment affairs, and better legislation to make sure jobseekers are not deprived of the benefits that are rightfully theirs.

Aksoltan Annagurbanova is the pseudonym of an economist in Ashgabat.

This article was produced as part of IWPR’s News Briefing CentralAsia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.