Stratification of Youth Employment and Departure Abroad with the Purpose of Work: Kazakhstan and Neighboring Countries

Abstract

Recently, especially given the consequences of COVID-19, external migration processes have become more intense. In Kazakhstan and other neighboring post-Soviet countries, a certain social imbalance is associated with the protracted transition period from the Soviet past to the social order and economy of the future. A widening gap exists between the countries of this region associated with geopolitics; for example, states have to choose the Western or Eastern geopolitical vector of development. Russia has a dramatic effect on the development, economy, and migration of neighboring states with a weaker economy. In this regard, the research focuses on the study of key drivers, factors, and reasons affecting this imbalance in the context of the social strata of Kazakhstan. Based on economic and statistical analysis methods, the study analyzes the current migration situation in Kazakhstan and the CIS region, assesses the level of adaptation of citizens of Kazakhstan to the changing environment and globalization that affects the young population; the mechanism of the influence of regional vectors of geopolitics on Kazakhstan is also determined. Apart from this, the current work examines the propensity of young people to migrate abroad (expressed using an integrated indicator) and provides a regression analysis of factors affecting its level. This allowed assessing the degree of influence of the youth unemployment rate and the general welfare of the country on the inclination to go overseas to find a better job. The paper concludes by arguing that the level of unemployment among the young population has a significant impact on its tendency to migrate. In particular, in Kazakhstan, migration abroad is primarily connected with the possibility to get better career prospects and living conditions provided by the host countries.The research results could be used to manage socio-political and socio-economic issues related to the migration of young people in Kazakhstan and neighboring countries and conduct further research related to analyzing macroeconomic indicators and other factors affecting migration processes.