Confronted with heavy casualties on the Ukrainian front and a wave of retirements, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is struggling to find enough workers to keep its war economy running. Russian companies will need to hire the equivalent of two million workers a year over the next five years to fill both newly created positions and vacancies left by retirees.
“By 2030, we will need to integrate 10.9 million people into the economy. About 800,000 new jobs will be created, and about 10.1 million people will have reached retirement age,” said Anton Kotiakov, the labor minister, on Monday, July 14, during a meeting with President Putin dedicated to demographic challenges.
The minister did not specify how he planned to meet the growing demand for workers – a problem now acute across all sectors of the economy, as illustrated by recent reports from the Central Bank and the current unemployment rate, which stands at its lowest level (2.2%).
This labor shortage became even more severe after the invasion of Ukraine, as around 700,000 men – mostly contract soldiers – are currently on the front lines. Many Russians, lured by the promise of salaries well above average, signed contracts with the military to fight or to work in arms manufacturing. The state pays its recruits generously, overshadowing the civilian sector, which suffers from chronic labor shortages.
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