Informal employment: research and evaluation methods

The article examines various approaches to studying new forms of informal employment, including unofficial employment and entrepreneurial activities. The main goal of the work is to explore diverse methods that can be applied to achieve a more accurate assessment of informal employment and the contribution of the informal sector to the economy, including its impact on economic and social indicators. During the COVID and post-COVID periods, the global financial crisis intensified, necessitating an examination of the current situation not only in the global labor market but also in Kazakhstan. The labor market has always been and will remain sensitive to the state of the economy, significantly affecting both employers and employees. The strengths and weaknesses of applying a range of methods, identifying methodological approaches to the application and systematization of tools to improve the quality of work in the informal sector were analysed. Problems connected with evaluation of informal employment were discussed such as assess to different types of data, identifying boundaries of informal sector and different methodological limitations. The conclusions and obtained results can form a scientific basis for further research and assessment of informal employment, contributing to the adoption of more effective measures at the state level to support the informal sector of the economy in various countries, including our republic. To obtain more accurate results in assessing the volumes of informal employment, it is necessary to use a combination of existing scientific and practical methods, taking into account the specificities of each country, undoubtedly enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of the results obtained.