The first time a manager asks a staffing agency about the cost of recruitment in Kazakhstan, the reply usually triggers the same reaction: why so much? A fee of several hundred thousand tenge for a single hire feels out of proportion, especially when the vacancy looks simple. But the number on a commercial proposal is only the visible part of what hiring costs. The invisible part sits in the company budget whether or not an agency is involved: the hours line managers spend interviewing, money spent on job ads, the idle shift while a seat stays empty, and the price of a mistake when a new hire walks out after a month.
Over years of work with oil and gas and industrial projects in the Atyrau region, the FSSA team has seen both sides of this question: clients who saved on recruitment and then filled the same role three times in six months, and clients who overpaid for work they could easily have done in-house. What follows is an honest breakdown of how recruitment fees are formed, which pricing models exist on the Kazakh market, and where exactly businesses lose money.
Start with the main point: there is no single price list for recruitment. The fee depends on who you are looking for, how many people you need, how fast and with what guarantee. Finding one lead project engineer and filling forty rigger positions are two different products, even though both are called hiring.
What drives the cost of recruitment in Kazakhstan
Break a recruiter's work into steps and it becomes clear what the client is paying for. First comes the job profile: requirements, shift pattern, conditions and the real pay range. This is often where it turns out the client is looking for a unicorn on an ordinary specialist's salary, and an honest agency will say so on day one rather than after a month of fruitless searching. Then comes sourcing: job board postings, the agency's own database, direct approaches through professional communities, referrals. After that, screening of applications, phone interviews, checks of documents and qualifications, confirmation of trade grades and safety permits, and reference calls to previous employers. Only then does the client see a shortlist of three to five candidates.
Every one of those steps eats hours. For a high-volume role a recruiter may go through hundreds of applications to put a dozen people on site. For a rare specialist the opposite is true: there are almost no applications, and the whole search consists of reaching people who currently work for competitors and are not planning to move. That is why three things affect the price most: the level of the role, the scarcity of the skills, and the deadline.
In Kazakhstan, as across the wider CIS market, four main pricing models have taken shape.
The first and most common is a percentage of the candidate's annual income. For specialists and first-line managers the range is typically 10 to 30 percent of the new hire's annual pay. The more senior the role and the thinner the market, the closer the rate moves to the upper end. For top executives and niche experts the percentage can be higher still, and payment is often split into stages: part at the start of the search, part when the shortlist is presented, and the balance when the candidate starts work.
The second model is a fixed fee per position. The agency names the amount up front and it does not change even if the final salary turns out higher. For the client this is convenient because the budget is known before work begins. As an example, one Almaty agency publishes prices for hiring managers and specialists starting at 480,000 tenge per position, and department heads from 620,000 tenge, with free replacement within 90 days. That is a useful benchmark for office roles in the big cities.
The third is volume hiring with a fee for each worker who actually starts. The rate per head is noticeably lower, and the agency's economics rest on volume. This is how rotation projects are staffed: general labourers, riggers, insulators, cooks for camp kitchens. The price depends on the number of positions, the mobilisation deadline and document requirements rather than on a share of salary.
The fourth is a subscription or dedicated recruiter model, where a company pays a fixed monthly amount for a constant flow of hiring. It suits employers whose hiring never really stops.
Taxes deserve a separate mention. Since 2026, under the new Tax Code, the VAT rate in Kazakhstan has risen to 16 percent, and many agencies quote prices excluding tax. When comparing offers, check straight away whether VAT is included, otherwise the gap between a cheap and an expensive supplier may be an illusion.
Two real scenarios
Percentages mean little until you plug in a real salary. Take a process unit operator on rotation earning around 500,000 tenge a month. Annual income is 6 million tenge. At a 15 percent rate, filling that vacancy costs about 900,000 tenge before VAT. Is that a lot? Compare it with the alternative.
If the company searches on its own, it needs an in-house recruiter or HR manager with salary, taxes and a desk, paid job board listings, and the site supervisor's time for interviews. On top of that comes the most expensive item: the days when the unit runs short of an operator or the rest of the crew works overtime. On a rotation project one unfilled position means someone on the crew stays for a second rotation in a row, and under the Labour Code of Kazakhstan overtime is paid at no less than one and a half times the normal rate. A month of that kind of saving easily eats up what the agency was asking for.
The second scenario is volume. A contractor needs to put 60 blue-collar workers on site within three weeks. An in-house HR team of two simply cannot do it: thousands of applications to process, hundreds of calls, documents to collect, medical checks and logistics to organise. Here a fixed fee per worker who starts is almost always cheaper than hastily inflating headcount. We covered how that kind of hiring funnel works and which metrics matter in our piece on high-volume recruitment.
In practice it looks different from the price list. The cheapest hire is not the one with the lowest rate but the one you never have to repeat. If a specialist hired for 900,000 tenge stays three years, the cost per month is trivial. If a cheap candidate leaves after the first rotation, the company pays twice: once to the agency and once in lost time.
That is why, beyond the price itself, you should look at the guarantee. The market standard is free replacement if the candidate resigns or fails probation within an agreed period, usually up to three months. Under the Labour Code of Kazakhstan probation for most employees cannot exceed three months, so a 90-day guarantee covers exactly that window. If an agency offers a two-week guarantee, ask questions.
Where companies overpay and how to avoid it
The most common mistake is to compare only the bottom line. Two proposals at 700,000 and 500,000 tenge can hide completely different services: one includes reference checks, skills testing and a 90-day guarantee, the other is forwarding CVs from a job site without a single phone call. Before signing, ask the supplier to spell out exactly what the work includes and what counts as the result: a candidate presented, an offer accepted, or a person actually on site.
The second trap is full prepayment with no link to results. For a complex search a partial retainer is normal, since the agency invests time before the client sees the first candidate. But if the entire fee is due before work starts and is not tied to any outcome, all the risk lands on the client.
The third is vague requirements. When a client is not quite sure who they need, the recruiter brings the wrong people and the search drags on. Time is money too, and it is the client's money. An hour spent on a clear job profile saves weeks.
The fourth is unrealistic pay expectations. If the range is well below market, no agency will find a strong person, and if one does, that person will leave for a competitor at the first opportunity. Employers often go wrong here, trying to offset a low salary with a great team. In the Atyrau and Mangystau oil sector that argument rarely works: candidates know perfectly well what neighbouring contractors pay.
Finally, the legal side. A recruitment services agreement is a civil-law contract, and it should set out the price or how it is calculated, timelines, completion criteria, guarantee obligations and payment terms. If a supplier suggests working on trust without a contract and a signed acceptance certificate, walk away: in a dispute the client will have nothing to back up its position.
There is a flip side to the risk as well. Some companies try to save by collecting CVs of the same candidates from several agencies and then hiring the person directly, bypassing the contract. In a narrow industry where recruiters know each other this quickly damages reputation, and it almost always breaches contract terms that expressly forbid it and require payment in full.
So when is an agency justified, and when can you manage alone? If you hire one or two people a year for well-understood roles and have a strong HR manager, an external supplier may not be needed. If you need a rare specialist, a confidential replacement of a manager, or a crew mobilised for rotation at short notice, the fee almost always pays for itself. We examined that choice in detail in our article on when to hand hiring to a recruitment agency. And if what you need is not a one-off hire but people for a project without growing your own headcount, look at staff outstaffing, which follows entirely different economics.
The price of a recruitment service is not the price of a CV. It is the price of a risk taken off the company's shoulders. A good supplier does not sell candidates; it sells confidence that three months from now the person will still be in their seat. That is the lens through which offers should be compared.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a recruitment agency charge in Kazakhstan?
It depends on the model. On a percentage basis it is usually 10 to 30 percent of the new hire's annual income. Fixed fees for office specialists in the major cities start at roughly 480,000 tenge per position, and more for managers. Volume hiring of blue-collar workers costs less per head but is priced on volume.
Is VAT included in recruitment fees?
Not always. Since 2026 the VAT rate in Kazakhstan is 16 percent, and many agencies quote prices excluding it. Clarify this before comparing offers, or a price gap may turn out to be imaginary.
What is a replacement guarantee?
It is the agency's obligation to find a new person free of charge if the hire resigns or fails probation within an agreed period. The guarantee usually runs up to 90 days, matching the maximum probation period for most employees under the Labour Code of Kazakhstan.
When do you pay the agency, before or after the hire starts?
For volume and standard roles, payment is most often tied to the employee's first day. For complex and senior roles a staged scheme is common: a small advance at the start, part when candidates are presented, and the balance after the person starts.
Can recruitment costs be cut without losing quality?
Yes. A clear job profile, a market-rate pay range, fast feedback on candidates and a bundled order for several positions noticeably reduce the recruiter's workload, and therefore the price. The biggest saving comes from not having to fill the same position twice.
Which is cheaper for a rotation project: in-house HR or an agency?
For a one-off mobilisation of dozens of positions, an external supplier is almost always better value: there is no need to inflate headcount for a few weeks of peak hiring. If hiring is constant and steady, it makes sense to keep in-house recruiters and bring in an agency for rare and urgent roles.