Above: Video on unleashing women's potential for employment in the transport sector in Azerbaijan
🧩 The Challenge
In some countries, women cannot work outside the home for cultural reasons. In others, caring for children and elderly keeps women out of the workforce. In others, national laws bar women from taking some jobs. In fact, legal restrictions in 12 countries limit women’s job access to certain transport jobs, while policies in 45 economies restrict women’s work in hazardous jobs.1
It is not just women who suffer because of job restrictions. These restrictions also hurt businesses, because barriers to entry for women shrink the national talent pool, undermining economic development. These legal bans on women’s work are often based on outdated assumptions about health risks. They take a paternalistic, old-fashioned view of women and do not account for technological advancements and modern safety standards.
Until 2022, Azerbaijan’s legislation prohibited women from working in 674 occupations scattered across the economy, from transport to energy to agriculture. For example, women were not allowed to lay asphalt, work as train engineers, or drive a city bus with more than 14 seats. Women were legally prohibited from being hired in a wide array of industries that involve working underground, potentially dangerous work, and hard physical labor. These restrictions, inherited from laws of the former Soviet Union, mean there is a stark divide between where and what men and women do for work in Azerbaijan; women mostly work in low wage careers, e.g. in health and education, while men dominate other often better remunerated fields.
🛠️ The Intervention
In November 2022, with the World Bank’s technical support, Azerbaijan repealed these restrictions.2 The November 2022 changes replaced blanket restrictions on female labor with a health-based approach that applied specifically to pregnant women and mothers with young babies.
This reform aimed to open access to higher-paying jobs in transport and energy, addressing workplace segregation and narrowing a high gender pay gap in the country. It looked to boost female labor force participation so businesses could benefit from a larger talent pool, improve diversity, and promote innovation.
In parallel with supporting the Labor Code reform, the World Bank worked with two state-owned enterprises – Azerbaijan Railways and the Port of Baku – to improve their human resource policies and increase the representation of women in these male-dominated industries. This collaboration has already led to notable progress:
- Azerbaijan Railways launched its first-ever training program for women train operators and established a women-in-rail network to support its female staff.
- The Port of Baku committed to increasing women’s employment from 8% to 20% by 2030.
💡 Lessons Learned
Azerbaijan’s experience offers valuable lessons for countries planning to remove the barriers to women’s employment:
- Setting an Example: Azerbaijan serves as an important model for other countries, particularly those in the former Soviet Union that still carry similar employment bans.
- Comprehensive Action: Countries must address legal and cultural barriers at the same time; legal reforms must be buttressed by policies designed to influence social attitudes and workplace behavior.
- Evidence-Based Approach: Data and risk assessment were vital for challenging outdated assumptions and key to changing both policies and attitudes.
Above: Video on unleashing women's potential for employment in the transport sector in Azerbaijan
📌 Conclusion
Azerbaijan's repeal of employment restrictions on working women is indeed an important milestone in advancing gender equality in the workforce. However, as this case points out, legal changes alone are not enough to ensure women's full participation in the labor market. Societal norms and deeply ingrained gender stereotypes still play a significant role in shaping career choices and perceptions of what jobs are suitable for women. To truly transform the labor market, efforts must go beyond simply lifting legal barriers. Engaging with large state-owned enterprises, as this initiative did, particularly in sectors traditionally dominated by men, is an essential strategy. By working with these companies, societal attitudes can be shifted, and a more inclusive culture can be created that welcomes women into all professions, especially in areas like transportation, construction, and engineering.
1 World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law. 2024. https://wbl.worldbank.org/en/wbl.
2 World Bank blog: With legal restrictions lifted, it is time to break “soft” barriers to women’s employment in Azerbaijan.