As of 1 October 2025, a total of 14,666 foreign nationals are engaged in employment activities in Kazakhstan under work permits issued by local executive authorities.

The permits for attracting foreign labour (hereinafter – foreign labour force, FLF) are distributed across the following categories: 561 permits for executives and their deputies (first category), and 2,280 permits for heads of structural divisions (second category). The majority of foreign workers fall within the third (specialists) and fourth (skilled workers) categories, comprising 3,884 and 988 individuals respectively. In addition, 3,036 individuals have been employed for seasonal work, while 3,918 have been engaged under corporate transfers.

Currently, there are 1,896 employers in Kazakhstan utilising foreign labour. These companies employ more than 339.1 thousand Kazakh citizens, accounting for 96% of their total workforce.

By sector of economic activity, the largest numbers of foreign workers are employed in:

• construction – 4,799 persons,

• agriculture, forestry and fisheries – 3,065 persons,

• mining and quarrying – 1,187 persons,

• manufacturing – 1,085 persons.

The main countries of origin for foreign workers are:

• China – 5,330 persons,

• Uzbekistan – 2,682 persons,

• Turkey – 1,046 persons,

• India – 1,012 persons.

It should be recalled that, in order to protect the domestic labour market, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan annually establishes and allocates a quota for the recruitment of foreign specialists. In 2025, the overall quota was set at 0.2% of the national labour force, or 14.8 thousand positions, and was subsequently increased to 16.5 thousand positions by ministerial order in March of the current year, following requests from local executive bodies.

Since August 2025, in connection with the expansion of the list of professions eligible for seasonal foreign employment, a ministerial order has set the overall quota at 0.25% of the national labour force, equivalent to 19.4 thousand positions.