Uzbekistan Orders German Training for 10,000 Workers as Migration System Overhauled

Germany requested 45,000 Uzbek specialists this year. Only 2,000 Uzbek citizens actually secured jobs there. That gap — driven largely by a shortage of German speakers — anchored a sweeping labor migration overhaul ordered by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at a meeting on November 2.

The stakes are large. There are 168 million labor migrants worldwide, and Uzbekistan is competing for the qualified slice of that flow. The numbers show why the strategy matters: the number of Uzbeks working abroad has halved over the past decade, yet the money they send home has quadrupled. Higher skills, not higher headcount, drive earnings.

How big is the gap between demand and placement?

Cooperation on organized labor migration has expanded from 3 partner countries to 27, and major foreign employers working with Uzbekistan have grown by nearly 400. Still, regional disparities are stark. Fergana region averages $1,850 in monthly remittances per person working abroad; some regions don't reach $400.

For the first time, the European Union has included recruitment of specialists from Central Asia in its migration strategy. The United Kingdom has demand for 33,000 workers, though Uzbiks currently go there mainly for seasonal agricultural work. In plain terms: demand exists, but Uzbekistan isn't converting it into qualified placements fast enough.

What changes in training and language?

The President called foreign language proficiency the key requirement for well-paid jobs abroad. Uzbekistan has 200,000 young people holding English proficiency certificates; officials were told to expand their employment routes to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

• Two to three technical schools per region will add German courses alongside vocational training.
• Training of 100 German language teachers has begun at the Intil International Training Center with Germany's Telc exam provider; they start next year.
• Another 500 native German speakers will be recruited to teach; the university quota for German-teaching teacher training will double.
• Target: 10,000 people trained in vocational skills plus German next year, then placed in Germany.

Twenty technical schools will be selected within a month and their curricula adapted to foreign employer requirements. Two to three schools per region will transfer to major entrepreneurs' management for 15 years, with graduates receiving state-recognized certificates. These institutions should train at least 30,000 specialists annually. Training costs will be deductible from the taxable base, and graduates who secure jobs abroad will get grants.

What role do private agencies and local government play?

Private employment agencies have tripled in number in two years since licensing was simplified; citizens placed abroad through them have increased fivefold. From next year, sending citizens abroad shifts to vetted private agencies, with a 1.5-million-soum incentive payment per person placed in a well-paid job. A public rating based on employment outcomes, rights protection and social guarantees is planned, plus a draft resolution within a month.

Each region gets 8 billion soums and a unified labor migration center next year. The Mahalla Seven — the local neighborhood committee — will enter data on citizens seeking work abroad into the Online Mahalla platform. Regional khokims (governors) will review results monthly; district khokims twice a month. With 287,000 placement opportunities across 34 countries this year alone, information on vacancies, language requirements and training will now reach residents at mahalla level.

What about returnees, pensions and foreign workers?

Since January, 1,116,000 Uzbeks have returned from labor migration. Officials must find suitable jobs for 250,000 of them by year-end, supported by a platform logging returnees' professions and work experience. Uzbek citizens now work legally and pay pension contributions in over 40 countries; pension-rights agreements were signed this year with Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Türkiye, with more to follow.

Inside Uzbekistan, nearly 250,000 foreign nationals are staying long-term — 36,000 with work permits, 24,000 students. The employment status of the rest needs clarifying, and the President stressed that new jobs should go primarily to Uzbek citizens.

On protection, citizens in difficulty abroad can appeal through Online Mahalla, with ambassadors handling cases personally. "Not a single compatriot working abroad should be left alone with their problems," Mirziyoyev said. Ambassadors and khokims will now own the full cycle — from placement to adaptation — including quotas, work visas and qualification recognition.