Unemployment in Turkmenistan

The employment system in Turkmenistan combines public registration with direct applications to employers, regional job fairs, the State Employment Service and the Population Employment Portal introduced in 2026. The portal provides current vacancies and allows a profile containing education, work experience and the desired position. Employment-service units operate through the velayat, city and etrap levels, together with local executive or self-government bodies. Public employment services are free; private employment services may charge, especially for placement abroad. A person generally applies in person at the place of residence or stay. Registration as unemployed requires the person to be able and ready to work, not employed, not receiving a pension or state benefit that prevents registration, and willing to support their own job search. The law also provides a statutory pathway for certain people who have remained unemployed for at least three months after liquidation, closure or redundancy. Additional conditions include a family per-capita income below 50% of the statutory minimum wage. People under 18, legally incapacitated people, prisoners or people undergoing compulsory treatment, and applicants who provide false information are among those excluded. Publicly funded graduates who refuse assigned work may also be excluded. The application may require an identity document, an employment record book if available and a document showing the specialty or qualification. There is no reliably published nationwide decision time or uniform document list, so the local employment-service office should confirm the current procedure. A person may also apply directly to an employer without registering first. Registered unemployed people can receive free vacancy information, counselling, placement, career guidance, vocational training, retraining and upskilling. The unemployment benefit is a statutory monthly payment calculated as a percentage of the base value used for state benefits. Its amount and duration are set by the authorized procedure and may be indexed by Presidential acts; a current nationwide benefit amount, recipient total and payment coverage are not reliably published. Registration creates continuing duties. A person referred to an employer should make contact within five working days, report changes of residence and notify the employment service within five working days of temporary, permanent or seasonal work, a civil contract, entrepreneurship, a change in disability, a pension, a state benefit or other income. While receiving the benefit, the person must support their own placement and normally re-register at least twice each month. Two refusals of suitable work or an unjustified failure to appear within ten calendar days can prevent recognition or end continued support. The benefit or registration can be suspended for up to three months after unreported temporary work, more than one month of unjustified non-attendance, refusal or failure to take part in paid public works, receipt of severance or other dismissal payments, and certain dismissal grounds. Registration can end after employment, a written opt-out, more than one month of unjustified non-attendance, fraud, receipt of a pension or state benefit, two refusals of suitable work, military service or permanent emigration. The employment service should issue written notice of removal within five working days. Paid public works provide additional social support, are paid by the participating employer and count toward the work record. Dismissal can create a short income bridge before registration. In qualifying redundancy or liquidation cases, severance is approximately one month of average wages. Average wages may remain payable for up to two months during re-employment, and possibly for a third month if the person registers within two weeks after dismissal and remains without placement. On request, the former employer should issue a work and wage certificate within five working days. Re-entry can happen through the employment service, the Population Employment Portal, direct employer applications, job fairs, paid public works or vocational training and retraining. Once a person becomes employed, there is no separate unemployment status. Continuing education is a transition tool rather than a separate unemployment category. Official figures require careful interpretation. The 2022 census recorded 132,474 job seekers among the economically active working-age population of 2,443,666, corresponding to 5.4%; the reported rate was 6.1% in urban areas and 4.7% in rural areas, with 5.4% for men and 5.5% for women. Regional figures ranged from 5.2% in Mary to 6.2% in Balkan. In 2024, employment agencies recorded 25,987 people seeking work and placed 18,468, including 115 people with disabilities, of whom 103 were placed. These figures describe different groups and services: census job seekers are not the same as people formally registered as unemployed. No consistently published current monthly series establishes the nationwide number of registered unemployed people, benefit recipients, benefit duration, refusals or benefit expenditure.