Couriers in Russia Now Receive Higher Pay than Doctors, Teachers, and Even IT Professionals

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 18 – Demand for couriers has risen so fast that there are almost 200,000 vacancies in that sector and as a result, their salaries have risen as well over the last several years and now exceed those of doctors, teachers, and even IT professionals, a sign that the market is not allocating work in ways that best serve the Russian people, Ilya Grashchenkov says.
    The head of the Moscow Center for Regional Politics points out that almost all of the couriers are in the major cities even though “it is no secet that the country needs to increase production primarily in the regions” (rosbalt.ru/news/2024-12-18/ilya-graschenkov-kuriery-obognali-programmistov-po-zarplatam-chto-eto-znachit-5278925).
    Unless that is done, reported income gains will be illusory and Russia will continue to fall behind the advanced countries, Grashchenkov continues. But “for now,” he says, “the high-wage economy the country seeks is being formed not through high-tech industries but rather thanks to people on bicycles with backpacks.”
    Unless that changes – and it will require massive government intervention to do so – the Kremlin may be able to point to large wage gains but neither it nor the population of the country as a whole will be able to avoid the degradation that is certain to follow such arrangements and trends.