Russia faced acute 4.8M worker shortage in 2023
MOSCOW, RUSSIA — Russia is grappling with a shortage of approximately 4.8 million workers in 2023, a situation expected to persist into 2024, drawing on expert opinions and research from the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Economics.
According to official data, cited by the newspaper Izvestia, the shortfall represents 6.8% of Russia’s workforce, as hundreds of thousands have fled the country following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Factory workers, engineers, doctors and teachers will be especially difficult roles to fill in 2024, predicts economist Tatyana Zakharova of Russia’s Plekhanov University.
Russia’s Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina warned last month that the depleted labor force threatens economic growth.
“Unemployment is 3% and in some regions it is even lower. This means there are practically no workers left in the economy, the situation with personnel is really very acute,” Nabiullina said.
The International Monetary Fund admitted in 2022 that the Russia-Ukraine war would leave an impact on Europe’s economy. However, Ukraine’s IT outsourcing shows resilience amid the conflict.
