A Kazakh national who returned from Sweden has spoken about the difficulties of finding a decent income back home: after earning around 1.5 million tenge in Europe, he now makes at most 340,000 tenge in Astana, according to infohub.kz.
A Threads user under the handle zhaknordman, who works in Astana, complained about low salaries in Kazakhstan. He said he had previously worked in Sweden, where he earned about 1.5 million tenge.
"I got used to earning 1–1.5 million tenge abroad. I've been in Kazakhstan for 1.5 years now, and I can't even come close to that kind of income. I make at most 340,000 tenge. I don't know what to retrain as," he wrote.
The man noted that he had considered data analyst and furniture designer positions, the latter being his current line of work.
"I speak English. Should I go into freelancing or get serious about YouTube? I need good cash, and at the same time a good profession that can be transferred abroad. I also considered video production, but it seems like a waste of considerable money," he said.
He previously wrote that he is 34 years old and in Europe had worked as a cook at a hotel and done demolition work at a construction site. A year and a half ago he returned to Kazakhstan from Sweden, where he used English, but in the republic knowledge of the language does not help him increase his income at all. In Kazakhstan he worked as an accountant and economist in the civil service.
"I'm currently working in manufacturing. Desired salary from 800,000. Please suggest some foreign companies in Astana," he wrote.
He had also previously asked users about possible options for immigrating to the United States and Canada.
Other users supported him. For example, one who had worked in Germany with a take-home salary of 2,000 euros said he was "in shock" after returning to Kazakhstan and seeing job offers of 150,000–300,000 tenge a month. He had to try tutoring and other fields to boost his income.
Another user advised him to become a dispatcher for truck drivers in the United States, where working with English at night according to Kazakhstan time can earn about $1,500 a month. Another user said he works remotely in Kazakhstan for a foreign company, earning 1.5 million tenge, but fears being laid off and the subsequent search for a job with decent pay.
The average monthly salary in Kazakhstan in the second quarter of 2026 was 486,388 tenge, the Bureau of National Statistics reported. Compared with the first quarter it rose by 5.4%, and year-on-year by 8.4%.
At the same time, real wages adjusted for inflation increased by 3% compared with the first quarter, but fell by 1.8% relative to the second quarter of 2025. The average salary in Astana was 647,920 tenge, in Almaty – 610,371 tenge, and in Shymkent – 377,710 tenge.