Azerbaijani labor market needs highly skilled specialists

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

Sustainable and rapid economic development and huge investment opportunities increase employment opportunities available in the fast-growing and competitive Azerbaijani economy.

With a growing economy and improving life standards, as well as social-political and economic stability, Azerbaijan is turning into an attractive hub for tens of thousands of labor migrants.

Migrants, in general, show an interest in the fields of ICT, oil industry, tourism, hotel business, and education, which are developing rapidly and attracting larger amounts of foreign investments.

Azerbaijan itself has a demand for foreign workforce in different sectors of industry.

Elman Babayev, the Department Head at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan, told Trend on November 25 that the country's labor market sees a demand for highly skilled foreign labor force in the fields of mining and processing industry, construction, maintenance of medical equipment and communication technologies.

This demand is taken into account in determining the quotas for the employment of foreign labor force.

"Currently, the draft document on quotas for foreign labor force for 2016 is under the consideration of the Azerbaijani government," he said. "The quota for 2016 would be cut as compared to this year."

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families refers the term "migrant worker" as a person who is to be engaged, is engaged, or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national.

Today migrant workers are spread throughout the territories of CIS countries, including in Azerbaijan.

Sometimes, there is a concern that migrant workers could potentially damage a country’s economy. However, Chairman of the Sustainable Development Research Center, Nariman Agayev, believes that migrant workers do not pose a risk to Azerbaijan's economy.

"Sometimes, Azerbaijan is obliged to use the services of migrant workers, because we lack experts on certain profiles," he told local media.

Recently, the government has revealed the official figures, which showed that there are about 24,000 migrants in Azerbaijan, half of which are migrant workers. Every year Azerbaijan allocates 10,000 jobs within the labor quotas for migrant workers. There are well-paid migrant workers in Azerbaijan's oil sector, but their number does not exceed 10 percent of the total number of employees.

Legislation improved

Azerbaijan has improved its migration legislations in accordance with international norms over the past few years. The changes made to the Migration Code on August 1, 2013 have simplified the registration of the migrants at their residences and application for other relevant standards.

According to a piece of legislation passed in 2013, foreigners and stateless persons arriving in Azerbaijan for a period exceeding three days should register with the Migration Service.

A copy of the person's ID should be submitted to the Migration Service personally, via mail, or email within 3 days.

This service is free and application forms are available at the Migration Service, post offices, and at www.migration.gov.az.

The Migration Service will immediately register foreigners at the place of their stay and present written notification to the receiving party within one working day.

Foreigners can be registered for the period provided in their visas, or for 90 days under the visa-free regime.

After changing the place of residence, registration must be renewed. These easy steps can exempt visitors from penalties and deportation.

Migration is a sign of the development of a state that is gradually gaining worldwide significance. The fast social and economic development, the expansion of international communications in energy resource transportation in Azerbaijan has led to even more enhanced migration processes.