Russia has recorded its worst labor shortage since President Vladimir Putin first came to power amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a new survey has shown.
The poll by Russia’s Yegor Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, which surveys managers of around 1,000 industrial enterprises in the country each month, found in April that 35 percent of enterprises lacked workers. The institute said that was the highest figure since 1996.
The shortage was partly down to Russia’s “partial mobilization” of its population starting from September last year, according to the institute.
Russian outlet RBC reported Thursday that Sergey Tsukhlo, the institute’s head of business surveys, told a conference where he presented the findings that understaffing in the country represented “a deep and long-term problem” that was holding back the country’s industrial growth.
The shortages were most stark in lighter industry and mechanical engineering, Tsukhlo said. And while the exit of Western brands such as McDonald’s and Starbucks from the country offered opportunities for local entrepreneurs, he added, worker shortages now mean “there is simply no one to produce” in their place.
Putin admitted in April that the country “does not have enough workers,” while Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov in March said issues with training and labor productivity were becoming “questions of survival” in the country.
However, the findings also show that enterprises’ optimism levels returned to pre-pandemic levels in February this year — even if respondents remained split on overall the economic situation.