The Ministry of Labor expects reductions in 46 specialties and the emergence of new roles. For the financial sector, this is a reason to rethink the work of call centers, cashiers, and credit specialists.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan Askarbek Yertayev stated that in the coming decade, artificial intelligence will affect a significant portion of professions in the country. The ministry identified 14 specialties that are at risk of disappearing, and another 46 professions where a reduction in the number of workers is expected.
For Kazakhstan’s financial sector, this is a practical signal about which roles may change fastest under the pressure of automation. Call centers, cash desks, office roles, and credit expertise fall under these changes: this is an editorial conclusion drawn from the Ministry of Labor’s list of professions, not a statement about specific companies.
What Happened
Askarbek Yertayev presented the assessment of AI and automation’s impact on the labor market at the PARYZ NEF 2026 forum. An official press release has not yet been published on the Ministry of Labor’s website, so the figures in this article are cited according to data from Kapital.kz.
The ministry divided professions into several groups depending on the level of risk:
- Disappearing (14 professions): About 50,000 people are employed in these. This includes typists, proofreaders, stenographers, call center employees, and telecommunications operators. These are roles with a high share of repetitive operations.
- Shrinking (46 professions): This group covers about 400,000 people. Office workers, accountants, credit experts, and cashiers are named among the vulnerable areas.
- Transforming (562 professions): The broadest category, covering approximately 4 million workers. These specialties will remain but will change the way they work. This includes IT developers, marketers, and agronomists.
In parallel, the Ministry of Labor expects the emergence of 33 new professions and more than 100,000 jobs. Among the growing areas, the minister named AI model trainers, AI security specialists, data engineers, and computer vision specialists.
Country and Market
Kazakhstan has been actively implementing digital services for several years. Previously, Finteqstan wrote about how Kazakhstan is building a GovTech platform using AI. Now, a similar logic is visible in the labor market: the state and business need to restructure people’s skills around the systems being implemented.
At the same time, automation is proceeding unevenly. The publication Kapital.kz cites data on the growth of industrial robot imports to Kazakhstan by approximately 20 times over the past three years. However, the overall level of robotization remains low: 7–10 robots per 10,000 workers. In some sectors, AI tools are already working, while in others, basic digitalization is just gaining speed.
Why It Matters
For fintech, the list of vulnerable and shrinking professions is particularly indicative. Call centers are becoming a field for implementing voice bots. Where an operator previously answered a standard question about a transfer status, a scenario in the app now handles it.
Credit expertise also falls into the zone of changes because the profession itself is named among the vulnerable areas. For the fintech audience, this is a signal to look closely at roles around scoring: where automation helps, where quality control is needed, and how to explain the system’s decision to the client.
Cashiers depend on the speed of clients transitioning to digital channels. For financial companies, this may mean less demand for simple operations in branches and more demand for employees who accompany the client in complex, non-standard situations. This is an editorial conclusion drawn from the general automation trend, not a confirmed reduction in individual organizations.
An important detail: according to market observations, for the financial sector, this is more of a signal about the need for internal reskilling programs than just a reason for staff reductions. Specialists who understand the financial product and know how to work alongside a model in anti-fraud, KYC/AML, and support will be valued in the market.
For fintech companies, this opens a window of opportunity but requires investment in human resources. Potentially, a call center operator can retrain as a voice bot trainer, and a credit specialist can transition into quality control for scoring decisions. Such a transition requires clear educational pathways within companies.
What’s Next
The next question is how the state and employers will link the forecast for 400,000 workers with real reskilling programs. According to ministry data presented at the forum and recounted by Kapital.kz, about 1 million Kazakhstanis are already involved in work through digital platforms. People need short courses and micro-qualifications. Details are important for the market: who will pay for the training and how quickly pathways will appear for people from vulnerable professions.