Use of Skills in the Workplace

Abstract

Examine why job productivity—output per worker—in the Kyrgyz Republic remains the lowest in Europe and Central Asia. The 2019 survey shows the latest trends of skills use on the job, but also looks at literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving tasks at work. A significant share of the workforce proves overeducated for their job, yet underskilled for the job’s skills use requirements. The Kyrgyz Republic has relatively high levels of overeducation compared to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, but a substantial percentage of workers remains overschooled but underskilled. Although tertiary graduates earn, on average, considerably higher wages, and tertiary graduates have, on average, higher skill levels, among tertiary graduates much variation still exists in skill levels. Employers must therefore use other ways to identify higher skills performance, such as job interviews, references, and observing employee productivity.