On 11 December, hundreds of workers of the West Oil Software company in Zhetybai, Manghystau region (West of Kazakhstan) started a strike and protest camp.

On 13 December, the company fired 7 protesters and a local court announced the strike illegal.

On 15 December, workers and their relatives also gathered in front of the local mayor's office. Two days later, a journalist reported that an unknown number of riot police troops entered the town. Workers informed that during the protests they were surrounded by security forces and riot police.

The workers are demanding the integration of their salary-payment system into the system of the national KazMunaiGas energy corporation, as well as the renewal of outdated technical equipment that poses threat to workers' safety.

Despite the threats of dismissal and the court's decision, the protest continued.

On the 8th of January, workers urged Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to intervene in their situation.

At the same time, hundreds of workers at another oil company, the Velikaya Stena (Great Wall) oil company, owned by a Chinese investor in Kazakhstan's Manghystau region, went on strike too. They demand pay increase, improved working conditions, and the cancellation of planned layoffs.