Russia is reportedly grappling with a significant shortage of workers, with a deficit of around 4.8 million employees this year, a challenge expected to persist in 2024. 

(Photo : MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech as he awards servicemen after an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow on December 19, 2023.

Depleted Labor Force of Russia

According to Reuters, which cited the Izvestia newspaper, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina highlighted the severity of the issue, saying the depleted labor force was causing acute labor shortages and threatening economic growth. 

The ongoing military efforts have further strained the situation, with hundreds of thousands of Russians, including highly skilled IT specialists, leaving the country following the military operations in Ukraine that commenced in February 2022.

These individuals took flight because they either disagreed with the war or feared being called up to fight. The outflows became more prevalent following President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial military mobilization of approximately 300,000 recruits in September 2022.

Earlier this month, Putin lauded a historically low jobless rate of 2.9%. However, Nikolai Akhapkin, the author of the research cited by Izvestia, said that labor shortages in Russia have surged, particularly in 2022 and 2023. The demand for drivers and shop workers has notably increased during this period.

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Vacancies in the Russia Workforce

The official data cited by the newspaper revealed that by mid-2023, the number of vacancies in the total workforce rose to 6.8%, up from 5.8% the previous year.

The research, which extended the data from Rosstat (the official statistics agency) to the entire workforce, will reportedly show that the shortage of workers this year "will tentatively amount to 4.8 million people." 

Russia's Labour Minister Anton Kotyakov acknowledged the impact of workforce shortages in the manufacturing, construction, and transportation sectors, leading companies to raise wages to encourage more employees.

Tatyana Zakharova, a researcher at the University of Economics in Russia, said that shortages in the workforce would persist next year, with notable vacancies for factory workers, engineers, doctors, and teachers, among others.

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