Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Research (IMRI) conducted a study on the employment of persons with disabilities in Uzbekistan.

The study revealed:

Today, more than 755 thousand people with disabilities of working age live in Uzbekistan (56% of them are men). The employment rate among them is 3.7%.

Persons with disabilities mainly work in industries such as industry (33.6%), education (15.4%) and healthcare (11.7%).

As part of the study, IMRI surveyed people with disabilities of working age. 161 people took part in the survey, of which 40.4% were men, 59.6% were women, the average age of respondents was 43.5 years. 14.4% of respondents had disability group I, 84.5% group II and 3.1% group III.

43.8% of survey participants stated that they have a work record, but only 8% are currently employed in the economy, and 3.1% did not work at all.

55.3% of respondents were forced to quit or change jobs after the disability group was determined. 16.8% of respondents stated that disability did not affect their work (of which 14.8% were congenital disabled).

When asked what difficulties they face in finding employment, 7% of respondents answered that they have poor health, 6.2% - that there are restrictions due to disability, 3.9% - that there are no vacancies. Only 14.8% of respondents expressed a desire to retrain and improve their qualifications.

When asked what the government should do to increase the employment rate of people with disabilities, 8.7% should provide information about jobs, 7.5% should provide vocational training courses, and 6.8% should provide assistance in starting a business.

The results of the analysis and survey showed that the main reason for the low level of employment of people with disabilities in Uzbekistan is the lack of jobs, lack of good conditions, insufficient information about jobs, benefits, employment promotion centers and low work skills of people with disabilities.