What employment struggles do Azerbaijani youth face and what can be done to help them fulfil their career potential?
November 23, 2022

What employment struggles do Azerbaijani youth face and what can be done to help them fulfil their career potential?


For young people, the transition from education to the labour market tends to be a complicated experience filled with a lot of uncertainty and doubts due to the economic conditions such as low demand, high unemployment, low wages, as well as a lack of information regarding career opportunities. Aiming to alleviate the feelings of uncertainty the European Union (EU) co-funded programme ‘EU4YOUTH: Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship’, created a podcast ‘Labour rights of young people in Azerbaijan and transition to work’. The podcast includes two episodes covering two topics related to relevant issues young people in Azerbaijan face when entering the job market or starting to plan out their careers.  In each episode guests such as policymakers, specialists, practitioners, or experts on the topic share their insights and advice regarding youth career opportunities.

We can’t plan for the long term, but need to find our place in the ever-changing landscape

The podcast’s episode Transition to work in Azerbaijan: how to ensure sustainable and satisfying career? touches upon career guidance opportunities, and career development support services for young people in Azerbaijan. In this episode Togrul Alakbarov, Director of the Central Career branch of the State Employment Agency, Rovshan Jamalov, Senior specialist at Labour Market Analysis and Development department (State Employment Agency), and İndira Hajiyeva, Deputy of Ministry Youth and Sport shared their valuable insights about youth career opportunities in Azerbaijan.

“The labour market is changing rapidly. The changing labour market means that we are no longer planning for the long term, but rather finding a place for ourselves in the ever-changing landscape. But where can good young people get information about career planning? The first step in career planning is choosing the right specialty and profession, especially for young people. Here, my first recommendation can be the site khedal.az. Young people can get information on more than 100 specialties here,” says Togrul Alakbarov.

The full episode can be found here: https://share.transistor.fm/s/ab21c065

Financial support for young people to develop their own business

In the other podcast episode ‘Protecting labour rights of young people in Azerbaijan and empowering them for successful career and entrepreneurship’ experts Kanan Baghirov, Head of the Department of Work with Vocational Training Centres of the State Employment Agency, Elmaddin Hajiyev, Head of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency’s Support Department for Small and Medium Business Access to Knowledge and Skills, Azer Aliyev, Head of the National Assembly of Youth Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan (NAYORA) talked about business development opportunities for youth in Azerbaijan.

“We support the development of entrepreneurship in the country by financing projects through competition. The amount of financing for each project is up to 20,000 AZN. At the same time, with the aim of helping access domestic and foreign markets, the agency supports the participation of SMEs in various exhibitions and fairs. The listed support services of the agency can be used by young people who want to start an entrepreneurial activity, as well as by young entrepreneurs who want to expand their entrepreneurial activity,” said Elmaddin Hajiyev.

The full episode can be found here: https://share.transistor.fm/s/78f074e8.

About the project

The ‘EU4YOUTH: Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship programme’ is co-financed by the EU and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and aims to spread information about career guidance process, the labour market, personal development, as well as detailed information about decent work standards for youth of Azerbaijan. The initiative is implemented by the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) in Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) until the end of 2024 and comprises technical assistance activities to support organisational structures and institutions (governmental and non-governmental) addressing youth employment and employability.



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