This paper analyses the influence that manpower agencies have on hiring practices and employment in Kazakhstan's oil sector. While influenced by the literature on transition from planned to market economy, this article's main argument is rooted in the understanding that labor precarization is produced through transnational capitalist practices. The influx of foreign capital through the investments of transnational companies (TNCs) also transplanted into Kazakhstan's labor market their antilabor policies and practices. This welcomed the presence of a new, dedicated actor for the establishment and curation of labor relations, namely manpower agencies, especially in the oil-rich region of Atyrau. This article argues there, the rationale for the presence of manpower agencies and the absence of trade unions is directly linked to the activities of TNCs. Manpower agencies have a decisive role in making employment and labor increasingly precarious in the oil sector. Manpower agencies function as a disaggregation force in the oil industry. Their presence stimulates a race to the bottom among workers, who have no other option but to accept precarious, unsafe, and underpaid jobs. Against this backdrop, the paper also offers a peek into “industrial gossip,” gathered during fieldwork in the Atyrau region. This more anthropological side of the argument highlights how the world of manpower agencies helps TNCs thrive by creating an atomized workforce.

本文分析了人力资源机构对哈萨克斯坦石油行业招聘实践和就业的影响。虽然受到计划经济向市场经济转型文献的影响，本文的主要论点植根于这样的理解：劳动力不稳定是通过跨国资本主义实践产生的。通过跨国公司投资流入的外国资本也将反劳工政策和做法移植到哈萨克斯坦劳动力市场。这欢迎一个致力于建立和管理劳资关系的新的、专门的行动者的出现，即人力资源机构，特别是在石油资源丰富的阿特劳地区。本文认为，人力资源机构的存在和工会的缺失的理由与跨国公司的活动直接相关。人力资源机构在使石油行业的就业和劳动力日益不稳定方面发挥着决定性作用。人力资源机构在石油行业发挥着分解力量的作用。他们的存在刺激了工人之间的竞逐，他们别无选择，只能接受不稳定、不安全和报酬低的工作。在此背景下，本文还提供了在阿特劳地区实地考察期间收集的“工业八卦”的一瞥。这一观点更具人类学意义，凸显了人力资源机构如何通过打造原子化的劳动力队伍来帮助跨国公司蓬勃发展。