Departure of Immigrant Workers Not Leading to More Jobs and Higher Pay for Russians, ‘Versiya’ Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Mar. 31 – Moscow officials say that Russia currently suffers from a shortage of five million workers. The departure of many migrant workers has intensified this problem; but despite expectations, this trend has not led to more jobs and higher pay for Russian residents, according to the Versiya news agency.  
    Because changes in the ruble exchange rate make working in Russia less profitable than before and because hostility to migrants has intensified over the last year, the number of migrant workers in Russia has fallen by a million in the past 12 months and will fall even more in the next, Versiya says (versia.ru/gastarbajtery-massovo-pokidayut-rossiyu--rabochie-mesta-i-vysokie-zarplaty-dostanutsya-mestnym).
    But this has not been the boon for Russian residents that many had expected. The migrants often do jobs Russians don’t want or aren’t qualified for, and consequently, the work simply doesn’t get done at the same rate. And at the same time, these shortages aren’t pushing up wages elsewhere because of how segmented the Russian labor market it.
    In it, where migrant workers leave, employers may offer more money to try to retain them or attract others. But those are jobs Russians don’t want or can’t qualify for. And such increases in pay in those sectors do not have much of an impact on other sectors where Russians are employed or seek work.  Any increases in jobs and pay there are driven by other factors.