Lack of Qualified Workers Limiting Russian Economic Recovery, HSE Survey Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 8 – The Russian economy is facing not just a shortage of low-skilled immigrant workers whose numbers have fallen because of the pandemic but also of more highly skilled personnel. The inability of firms to find such workers now is limiting the ability of the Russian economy to recover, according to a Higher School of Economics survey.

            Twenty-two percent of enterprises in processing industries report they can’t find enough qualified workers, 20 percent in the service sector say the same, as do 17 percent in construction and 14 percent in extractive industries and ten percent in wholesale trade, HSE experts report (iq.hse.ru/news/480904627.html).

            In a new book on Factors Limiting the Activity of Enterprises (in Russian, Moscow, 2021) at publications.hse.ru/books/456518945), they cite this as a major constraint, even though the recession means that many firms are shedding workers and thus have more applicants than they can hire.

            This situation, the HSE researchers continue,  is being exacerbated by the flight abroad of some of the most highly educated Russians and also by the increasing tendency among Russians to seek dependable government positions rather than more highly paid but riskier positions in the private sector.