Mongolia plans to introduce employment coaches for working age people who are not employed, as part of its proposed revisions to the Social Welfare Law. Family, Labour and Social Protection Minister T.Aubakir said the initiative would focus on people who are able to work but lack the motivation to seek employment, arguing that their joblessness is not due to a lack of jobs.

• 👉🏻 Under the proposed system, ministry officials will visit households to identify why working age members are not employed or seeking to increase their income. Based on their circumstances, individuals will be assigned employment coaches to help them find jobs and access relevant support services.

📊 Unemployment Climbs as Jobs Dry Up

So joblessness is all about motivation? Let’s do a reality check. Mongolia had 79,300 unemployed people in Q2 2026, and the most common reason they gave, cited by 32.9%, was that they looked but could not find work. The number of unemployed rose by 13,400 year-on-year, while the employment rate fell one percentage point to 58.1%.

• 💸 Bigger Paychecks, Less Purchasing Power: At the same time, average monthly nominal wages reached ₮3 million, but real wages fell 1.8% quarter-on-quarter as inflation eroded purchasing power. The nominal wage index stood at 152.0, compared with 119.6 for the real wage index.

🌏 The Exit Option

A Ministry of Labour study reported in 2024 found that two-thirds of Mongolians aged 15–64 would consider working abroad, and the 2025 intercensal count found 201,350 Mongolians already living overseas, up 64.6%. Even in Parliament, MP Ch.Lodoisambuu noted that those labelled “unmotivated” are often keen to work in Korea, where pay is better.

Finally… Rather than tackling a shortage of jobs and pay that can’t keep up with prices, the government is treating a demand problem as a motivation problem. As Marie Antoinette supposedly said, “Let them eat cake.”