Uzbekistan Quality Job Creation as a Cornerstone for Sustainable Economic Growth

The share of people engaged in high-tech industries and science is trivial
. 
Only 1.5% of all employed people are in high-tech industries
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and science 
(CER and UNDP 2013), thus inhibiting the activation of innovative factors 
of economic growth. The current employment policy model does not create 
the prerequisites for the emergence of high-quality outputs: growth of labor 
productivity and the flow of labor resources into the sectors and industries 
that have a good potential to become new drivers of economic growth. 
Informal employment remains substantial, posing a key challenge to 
both firms and workers. 
Informal employment rates vary across a number 
of factors but the informally employed are usually males, rural residents, 
and less educated, and they work mostly in agriculture, construction, retail,
and transport. 
In 2016, an estimated 21.1%
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of the total employed population (18–64 years 
old) was engaged in informal employment (Table 3.6), which shows a positive 
(declining) trend from 42% in 2013 and 38% in 2009. However, the structure 
and gender-related tendencies of informal employment remain the same, with 
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The ILO defines discouraged workers as persons who are not in the labor force and, although they are 
available to work, are no longer seeking employment because they do not believe they will find any. 
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High-tech industries include mechanical engineering, the pharmaceutical and microbiology industry, and 
information technology services.
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There are no reliable estimates of the size of the informal sector, but it is believed to be large. The National 
Scientific Center for Employment provides a higher estimation of informality, at 59.8% of the working age 
population based on a sociological study conducted in 2018 (Tashkenttimes.uz 2018).

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