Where are your hands: the country's economy needs 2.6 million workers
The need of companies for employees, primarily in working professions, increased by 17%, to 2.6 million people. This is stated in the April HSE study, which is available to Izvestia. At the same time, the economic activity of the population was record-breaking last year and in 2025. Although unemployment has now increased slightly (to 2.4%), the demand for personnel is still high. Most of all, they are looking for specialists in the manufacturing industry, in trade and transport. They are willing to pay one and a half times the average for the Russian Federation — more than 100 thousand rubles. The question of whether a business is capable of continuing to fight for employees with the help of high salaries is in the Izvestia article.
Which industries are the easiest to find a job in
The demand for human resources continues to grow in Russia. Last year, there was actually one required employee for every current employee. This is a new record, according to the HSE report "The labor market of certain sectors of the Russian economy.": the current situation and the expected focus of change." The experts analyzed data on the economy as a whole and separately on industries with a high proportion of "blue collar workers" (people engaged in manual labor).
According to the HSE, last year the number of required employees in companies (excluding small businesses) amounted to 2.6 million people. At the same time, the largest shortage of personnel is in the manufacturing industry (391 thousand people), in trade (347 thousand) and transport (219 thousand).
Meanwhile, in 2024, the economic activity of the population was record-breaking: 61% of Russians over the age of 15 were employed, the HSE estimated. At the same time, the overall unemployment rate in the country began to rise this year for the first time since 2023. In January, the figure was 2.4% against a record low of 2.3% in December. Nevertheless, unemployment remains very low.
Rosstat data, which formed the basis of the report of the Higher School of Economics, primarily reflects employers' plans for hiring staff, said Vladimir Smirnov, Acting Director General of the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor. The indicator includes the needs of enterprises related to the retirement of employees, the expansion of production, the departure of employees on maternity leave or child care, as well as their replacement due to the so-called turnover, he explained.
At the same time, the growing competition for personnel in certain segments provokes a redistribution of resources between industries, Vladimir Smirnov added.
— In general, the results of the study indicate the preservation of the job market of the applicant. At the same time, the actual movement of workers is actually half the planned intake and slightly lower than in the third quarter. This indicates that the market is gradually stabilizing," Vladimir Smirnov emphasized.
If we talk about the most sought-after professions, these are skilled workers, engineers, scientists, teachers, doctors, he concluded.
Who are you willing to pay more than 100 thousand rubles to
The increase in the number of vacancies in working professions is due to "reduced labor flows from abroad under the influence of a number of economic shocks and the weakening ruble in recent years," the HSE report says. The situation in the industries themselves is also important.
"The largest increase in demand for workers is in industry, which has been growing since 2023 due to the withdrawal of a number of Western companies from the Russian market, anti—Russian sanctions and import substitution," said Sergey Zainullin, a researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies at the RUDN University Faculty of Economics.
Another leader is trade, which is growing at a rate of over 30% annually starting in 2020, he added.
The shortage of personnel is also explained by the decline in the number of able-bodied people due to the demographic pit of 1990-2000, Sergei Zainullin said. At the same time, the business is trying to retain employees financially.
As noted in the report, the average monthly nominal accrued salary in 2024 amounted to 88 thousand rubles, an increase of almost 20% over the year. This is a record annual increase, with wages growing twice as fast as official inflation (9.5%).
One and a half times the average salary last year was received by specialists in the field of railway freight and passenger transportation (109 thousand and 101 thousand rubles, respectively), as well as builders of engineering structures (100 thousand), according to the HSE report.
However, the financial possibilities of the business, especially against the background of the high cost of borrowed funds due to the high key interest rate, are exhausted. As Izvestia wrote earlier, real wages (adjusted for inflation) will slow down to 3.3% this year.
How to solve the problem of labor shortage
Earlier, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, called the main problem of the domestic economy precisely the shortage of labor. It can be solved in conditions when the extensive growth in the number of personnel has already been exhausted, with the help of increased labor productivity, which is provided by increased automation and advanced training of employees, says Sergey Zainullin from RUDN University.
— The attempt to fill the shortage of migrant workers only worsened the situation, as it hindered the growth of automation. It was more profitable for employers to hire more visitors than, for example, to invest in training workers," he said.
Now many companies have realized that the main ways of development are using labor—saving technologies and increasing productivity, agrees Viktor Lyashok, senior researcher at the INSAP Center of the IPEI Presidential Academy. Another approach to solving the problem of staff shortages is to increase working hours, but it has both legislative and natural limitations, the expert said.
However, the Russian economy has already experienced the most acute period of labor shortage, according to Viktor Lyashok from the Presidential Academy. The number of new vacancies is gradually decreasing, the Central Bank also noted in its March report.
— The labor market is slowly coming into balance. Employers are optimizing business processes and staff numbers, are ready to train and develop employees, and are implementing digitalization and automation," said Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets, Associate Professor of the Basic Department of Human Resources Management at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.
Starting next year, the shortage of personnel is likely to decrease against the background of the development of professional development programs: secondary educational institutions will need just one and a half to two years to increase the output of qualified workers, believes Sergey Zainullin from RUDN University. In his opinion, the introduction of artificial intelligence will also have a positive impact, which will reduce the need for low-skilled workers.
In addition, the national project "Cadres" has been launched in the Russian Federation. It is designed to cope with the shortage of specialists in the country due to the fact that young people will receive relevant skills within the framework of educational programs. To do this, schools and universities will work in conjunction, attracting employers.
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