Jobs for life …

May 31st, 2014 Sections: Life In Kyrgyzstan, News, Weekly_Postcards

 

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Photo credit: the Italian voice / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

A few years ago I was involved on a number of interview panels to appoint people to senior posts in a variety of organizations … and in the course of a year I saw and reviewed hundreds of CV’s … and one thing struck me as part of the process … people tended to move on very quickly.  Indeed, it was so striking that I later fished out the documents and checked through them … and I discovered that the average time they spent in a post was just ten months – not even a full year!

Now, my father had at times talked to me about how things had changed during the course of his lifetime … I think he was exaggerating but he said that, when he was young, people tended to have just one job throughout the whole of their working lives, (albeit that they might change their actual place of employment or they might be promoted to a more senior position, or the nature of the work may have changed with the introduction of new technologies or methodologies),  but they tended to stay in the same career.  

By the 1960′s, however, when I was growing up, that was already no longer true … and these days, when  there is much more social mobility than there used to be, very few people stay in the same occupation throughout their working life – yet alone the same job; working “man and boy” for the same employer … even in places like Japan and career where this was considered a typical feature of employment. 

In all of his working life, my father had basically held just three jobs … for most of his life he was a postman but  during the Second World War he served as a Tank driver.  Also, on occasion he would sometimes work as a lorry driver to help a friend who had his own business as a scrap merchant – a rag and bone man, similar to Steptoe and Son.  When, however, his friend died whilst still comparatively young, his widow took over the business and my father found himself doing more driving “shifts” to help her to keep it going.

In my career I have had two basic jobs: teaching and running a tour company (and two hotels), which have occupied me for roughly equal shares of my working life.

On the other hand, however, I have also done several other jobs – but only on a temporary or short term basis.  There were a few days spent working on a chicken farm … but that didn’t last because it involved a lot of traveling, (it was quite a long way from home), and although I was perfectly happy to do most of the menial and dirty tasks like collecting and grading the eggs or cleaning out the cages, I “chickened out” (pun intended!) when it came to ringing their necks.

As a student I worked for several years as a barman in a local pub … and I think it’s fair to say that I really enjoyed that.  I also spent a year and a half working in a poster shop selling posters to students, prints of famous paintings, postcards and that sort of thing.

The idea of a “job for life”, or even of  remaining in one career for the whole of our working lives, now seems to be completely  alien – unless you your job happens to be as a pontiff or ruling monarch, but even they have been known to abdicate.

There has recently been comment on how often Kyrgyzstan has changed Prime Minister since Independence … interestingly that’s also, on average, about once every 10 months.

For most people, their working life starts once they leave school … and this year, some 62000 students are graduating from school.  Some will go onj to study at University or some for Higher Educational Institute, whilst others will enter the labour market … but although they may seek employment there is no guarantee that they will find jobs.     

Last weekend saw  Posledniye Zvonok, or Last Bell the end of the school year – or at least the end of lessons … there is still the little questions of exams that have to be taken.  Those in their final year of schooling get to celebrate and perform the sort of high jinks which are commonplace everywhere around the world.  This year, I was invited to attend the “ceremony” in one school which included lots of speeches – including one (a very short one) from me, the distribution of certificates – although the final  diplomas will have to wait until after those examinations, some entertainment … and the ritual where the oldest pupil in their final year carries aloft on the their shoulder  the youngest pupil from the first class ringing the “last bell” of the school year.  

After that they left to goolat - promenade around town having their photographs taken in their refinery, complete with sashes declaring “Graduate of 2014″.  The usual High Spirits are generally well received and even the police seem to be remarkably tolerant … simply intent on making sure that everyone has a good time and “keeps safe”.  This year, however, they were a little busier than usual as quite a few of the revelers took to the road hanging out of windows as their cars sped along, horns blaring, … the sort of thing you often see, here, at weddings.  Apparently, some of them did have accidents, and over 20 incidents in Bishkek alone were deemed sufficiently serious to warrant a “protocol” – an official “record” or warning.

There were still young people celebrating along Kievskaya, where my office and apartment are located, well into the early hours of the morning.

Apparently, this wasn’t the only occasion that saw young people out on the streets at night.  As it happens there was a four day “raid” which found over 180 minors out on Bishkek’s streets unaccompanied by an adult, celebrating or otherwise …  I suppose the raids could have been part of the campaign that I mentioned last week to get the city to pass an ordinance prohibiting minors from being out and about (unaccompanied) after 10pm … although the proposal cites Posledniye zvonok as one of the exceptions when it would be allowed.

There has been another “raid” operation in the capital.  This one was on cafes, (especially those with outside patios), which create a disturbance at night by making too much noise at night, (basically, I think, anything between 10pm and 6am).  In most cases it seems as if the problem is connected with loud music rather than raucous behaviour of the clientele – many cafes and restaurants offering live music or dancing … and it seems to get out of control.

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For those school graduates – getting into University is not easy … first of all they have to take those exams and achieve a good result score.  Then they have to get accepted for a place … and even the Ministry points out that this process seems to rife with bribery and corruption … a couple of weeks ago they were talking of revoking the licenses of certain institutions which seemed to have too many students – especially those who didn’t have the requisite scores on the State examinations.  Over the years, there have been various stories about bribery and corruption in the educational sphere – but the stories of bribery cover virtually all areas of life – and one story this week about an official being caught red handed accepting a briber in exchange for a document granting Kyrgyz citizenship.

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The border has been in the news again this week … but, fortunately, it’s not because of any dispute … For one thing, this week saw the Day of the Border Guards – one of those Professional Holidays that we have that are designed to focus attention on particular groups of workers and to celebrate their contribution to society.  Then again, there seems to be some progress in the border delimination process with the Uzbeks.  A bit more controversial is the newly proposed measure which would prohibit the sale of real estate or property in specially designated border zones to foreigners, (individuals or companies), or stateless persons.  I am not sure how that is going to work – especially down in the Ferghana Valley,.

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I suppose the really big news item of the week is all about the Customs Union, (the CU).  More details of the roadmap have been published and something like 90 different legislative acts will have to be amended to be compliant with existing CU provisions.

The debate continues with the different sides each producing what they hope will be “telling moments”.  One pro-pundit, for example, suggested that failure to join would mean that several projected projects would be put in jeopardy … which could be crucial given the level of support that is either currently underway or planned, from Russia. Kazakhstan has said that they will look at Kyrgyzstan’s request for assistance in order to meet the obligations of membership and Russia has announced a massive aid support programme – and discussions are currently underway with both Kazakhstan and Belarus for support.  The president has also gone public with his vision of what membership will mean,

The anti lobby, on the other hand published an open letter signed by over 150 Kyrgyz citizens in over 17 countries criticizing the move.

In the meantime the treaty establishing the parallel Eurasian Economic Union was signed in Astana – and the Kyrgyz Republic has announced that it wants to join this new organization by the end of the year.

I was asked by one of my regular readers if I was going to write a postcard on the subject.  I pointed out that I can’t really comment … for example, I am a foreigner and it’s a decision for the Kyrgyz.  I don’t have a say in the matter – I certainly don’t have a vote.  (Indeed, although I could apply for one, I don’t have a vote in the UK … so I couldn’t participate in last week’s European elections.)  ”But you must have an opinion … ” was the response … and I think I surprised him by saying, “Yes, but I don’t think either side will want to hear them …”

Perhaps that was a mistake because he pushed a little harder … The thing is, even if Kyrgyzstan is an independent sovereign state, it’s still part of the wider international community and needs to establish relationships and strike alliances and with other countries.  Joining the CU may bring both benefits and problems – but so would staying out or joining some other trading/economic/political block.  In each case, both the benefits and the problems would be different … in or out … and there are likely to be some “winners” and some “losers”.

I also think it is also important to remember that there are three “temporal” aspects to the decision: the past, the present and the future.  Traditional, past, relationships and partnerships are relatively easy to define – as they are a matter of record, although different people may/will approach that record from their own perspectives and so interpret the facts and statistics differently.  The present should also be a matter of record, although will represent current situation rather than historical trends … and be less easy to see in an overall context.  The future, on the other hand, although it is built upon pre-existing or current relationships, it represents potential rather than these … and as such is much less easy to define or predict, if not downright uncertain.

If there is a choice as to which “grouping” of partners to ally with – then that’s a decision for the Kyrgyz … and I, like everyone else, will have to come to terms with the consequences of that decision.

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One commentator has stated that the energy sector in Kyrgyzstan is rapidly approaching a state of crisis.  For a nation with huge Hydro electric capacity it is a little embarrassing that we have decided to stop exporting electricity and, on the contrary, making arrangements to import electricity instead.  The Toktogul reservoir is currently is only about half full, which doesn’t bode well for the future.  Perhaps the most surprising statistic in this respect, however, was the fact that domestic consumption has increased by over 50% in the last 5 years … and is presumably replacing those valuable exports.  As a result, the thorny question of whether or not to raise tariffs has emerged once more … I don’t think it ever really went away, which ought to signal that, if nothing else, it represents a real issue that needs to be addressed  even if the eventual decision is to do nothing about tariffs – perhaps for political or social reasons – and find another way of funding the investment that is apparently so desperately required.   

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Regular readers of these postcards will be aware of my fascination with statistics … and this week saw a number of interesting figures.  For example:

We learned that there are some 400000 recipients of state benefits – that’s from a population of just under six million – and, (if I understand the reports correctly – it wasn’t exactly crystal clear), the spending on these benefits seems have more or less doubled.   Also, there are about 111000 families considered to be “on the breadline”.  That includes families where the monthly parents monthly income is less than the guaranteed minimum income” – although I though it wasn’t called that anymore – of 640 som per person … for the record: that’s about twelve and a half dollars.  If that sounds like a pretty measly sum, until recently the child allowance was only 370 som – but at least there are plans for it to be raised this year to 705 som.    

The Tax authorities have reported that they estimate that some 450000 individuals and legal entities are supposed to complete tax returns … but, so far,  340000 have actually done so.  There are different deadlines set for different groups – government officials, foreigners (like me), private entrepreneurs, people with property or vehicles (both of which are subject to tax) and anyone who has “legalized” income or property that had not been previously declared … and so on …  Well, the deadline for individuals has been extended – to 1st July … so, in theory, people have had half a year to gather all the paperwork together and complete the forms – which are really quite simple when compared to those in Britain or America.  If they don’t comply, then they face a fine of the princely sum of 2000 som – that’s not even forty dollars.  To be fair, whilst for some people that won’t be much of an deterrent, for most ordinary people it’s quite a substantial sum.  

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  If, for many people, two thousand som represents a substantial sum, you can imagine how attractive a million dollars might seem.  One of the difficulties of the situation where the equivalent of a dollar is more than 50 som, a Euro is worth over 70 and a pound almost 90 som … is that we tend to encounter larger numbers (million, billion …) much more frequently, or at least in more commonplace situations, than in the West.  A million dollars is fifty two million som … it sounds like a lottery win.

Anyway, this is the reward being offered by the  US Treasury for “information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the criminal network of Kamchybek Kolbaev.”  Kolbaev is often described as the leader of an “Organized Criminal Group” – a gangster.  The Americans have placed him on one of their Most Wanted lists and consider him to be a “significant foreign narcotics trafficker”.  He’s currently in prison, but for extortion rather than trafficking … and is due to be released soon …

I wonder what you have to do in order to claim that reward … no doubt the Treasury has rules and regulations governing such situations … but I think the reference to such a large sum in the headline could be counter productive in the long term as it may help to raise expectations … which almost certainly will not be met.  

If we take the parallel with the lottery just a little bit further … is is a case that the first, (and only?), prize is 52 million som … or is it a case of the Prize Fund amounts to 52 million som – with one jackpot prize of xxx som , (for example, in return for information that yyyy) and a host of smaller prizes – spreading the goodwill feeling from winning, thinly but over a much larger proportion of the population and where the average prize is just, say, 1000 som.    

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

It is possible to follow me on Facebook, (where we also have specific pages for Celestial Mountains, the Silk Road Lodge, The Celestial Mountains Guesthouse in Naryn  and also links.kg, Kyrgyz Diary and Kyrgyzstan Visitki … and not forgetting ianbek), and also on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialM

 

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