Published on 1 February 2026

Turkey: Employment

Despite high unemployment, qualified workers are in demand.

Opportunities on the Turkish labour market exist for younger applicants, especially in sectors such as tourism, translating and interpreting, healthcare, technology and programming, and the automotive and textile industries.

Employment law

An important source for Turkish employment law is the Labour Act of Turkey (law no. 4857), which regulates the rights and obligations of employers and employees and entered into force on 10 June 2003. It also contains provisions on fixed-term employment contracts, part-time employment contracts, on-call work, overtime and additional work including overtime pay, maternity leave, etc.

Work permit

Foreign nationals have to apply for a work permit at a Turkish consular representation in their country of residence or their country of citizenship.

In order to work in Turkey, the foreign national would have to apply for a work permit and a visa at the Turkish representation. A passport, a visa application form and a letter from the employer are all required when applying. Additional documents must be submitted by the employer to the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security within a certain period of time after the application. Applications for work permits are approved or rejected by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The work permit is equivalent to a residence permit. Therefore, if the work permit is approved by the ministry, the Turkish consulate will charge the foreign national a fee for the entry visa, a fee for the work permit certificate and a residence fee. As the work permit card replaces the residence permit in Turkey, the ‘work annotated visa’ issued by these offices can only be used for entry and for a maximum of 90 days.

Finding a job

Anyone looking for a job as an employee of a public institution or private company can register in the system via the online branch or the nearest ŞKUR provincial office. The basic prerequisite for a successful job search and employment is sufficient knowledge of Turkish.

Recognition of educational qualifications

Recognition and equivalence services are provided by the Higher Education Council to determine the equivalence of bachelor's and master's degrees obtained at international higher education institutions in the country's higher education system.

The process for determining equivalence is governed by the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Recognition Convention), the Higher Education Act No. 2547 and the related ordinance.

Self-employment and starting your own business

Foreign investors continue to see Turkey as an attractive business location.

The Turkish–Swiss Chamber of Commerce provides information on becoming self-employed and setting up a company. Swiss citizens may also contact Switzerland Global Enterprise. Swiss nationals can also obtain further information from the Swiss Business Hub, which assists SMEs from Switzerland and Liechtenstein in developing their business in Turkey and provides information on Switzerland as a business location to Turkish companies.

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