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- Feeling at home: the working day in Russia has decreased for the first time in three years
Feeling at home: the working day in Russia has decreased for the first time in three years
The length of the working day in Russia has decreased for the first time since 2022. In the first quarter, its average duration was 7.5 hours, Izvestia found out. Prior to that, the workload on employees only increased due to a shortage of staff. Now the trend has changed: remote work and underemployment are gaining popularity in the country again, and the shortage of specialists is becoming more local. In addition, employers have fewer and fewer opportunities to raise salaries and they are more often trying to retain or attract staff with flexible schedules. Who works more and less than others and what will happen next with salaries — in the Izvestia article.
Working day standards in the Russian Federation
The average length of the working day in the first quarter of 2025 was 7.54 hours (7 hours and 32 minutes), according to the June Rosstat report "Socio-economic situation of Russia" (Izvestia has reviewed it). The calculation took into account the employment of employees of organizations for the hours actually worked, the service explained to the editorial staff.
By law, working hours should not exceed 40 hours per week — as a rule, these are five working days of eight hours each. At the same time, shorter days are provided for some categories, for example, for the disabled, minors, and workers in hazardous industries. In addition, there are people who work part—time or, conversely, in longer shifts of 9 or 12 hours according to the "two in two" or "week in a week" schedule.
The length of the working day in 2025 decreased for the first time in the last three years, albeit slightly, by only 0.1%, or four minutes, compared to the same period last year, according to Rosstat data. However, this is a reversal of an important trend. In previous years, the indicator increased: the workload for each employee grew against the background of a shortage of personnel.
Now the labor market is becoming more balanced, and the situation is changing. Among the reasons are the proliferation of flexible schedules and the popularity of remote and project work, explained Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global.
In addition, there are more and more part-time employees in companies. Rosstat estimates that 3.5% of all employees of organizations (with the exception of small businesses) worked part-time this year, compared with 3.2% in 2024. This is also confirmed in SuperJob — according to the estimates of the service, the proportion of vacancies with partial loading increased by 3.8 percentage points.
How does the length of the working day change?
Such trends are associated with the development of work through digital platforms (taxi, delivery), where the self-employed are mainly involved, SuperJob analysts say. According to the Federal Tax Service, there are already more than 13 million professional income tax payers in Russia.
In the market as a whole, working conditions are being simplified — among all vacancies posted in 2025, 9% offered a remote job (against 7.5% in 2024), and 7% - a flexible schedule (against 5%), they said. hh.ru . Avito Rabota also notes the trend, which is especially noticeable in sales, logistics, and the hotel and restaurant business.
"The shift is driven by the needs of both sides of the market: it is more profitable for businesses to pay for the hours actually worked, and employees appreciate the opportunity to combine employment with other activities," the company explained.
At the same time, in 2025, there was another reversal in the labor market: wage growth slowed down, and the personnel shortage became local rather than widespread, said Andrei Barkhota, PhD in Economics. According to him, this also affects the reduction of working hours: companies are not willing to pay a lot, so they try to keep people with other privileges, for example, simplifying the workload.
According to the data hh.ru In 2025, organizations began to look for fewer employees, and the number of vacancies decreased. Whereas in the previous two years, there was a hyper-demand for personnel. Against the background of a high key interest rate and higher taxes, businesses are reducing staff costs. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Labor.
Which professions have fewer employees?
According to the Rosstat report, the longest working day in Russia is observed in fishing (almost nine hours), passenger transport (eight hours), metal ore mining and healthcare (7.9 hours). The lowest is in water and air transport (just over six hours), coal mining (almost seven hours) and furniture manufacturing (7.1 hours).
The length of the working day depends on the specifics of the job — for example, ship crews can spend weeks on it, while air travel, on the contrary, can take place in a few hours.
If we talk about more common vacancies, then the highest working hours are typical for areas related to physical labor and increased workload (doctors, teachers, journalists, builders, workers, couriers), said Tatiana Dmitrievna Ushkats, an expert at the Faculty of Economics of RUDN University.
In addition, as a rule, they work most in those areas where there is an acute shortage of personnel, said Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets, associate professor of the basic Department of the CCI "Human Resource Management" at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Salaries in Russia
The labor market is indeed undergoing a shift: employers are increasingly abandoning rigid frameworks in favor of flexibility, Avito Rabota noted. Companies are more actively offering part—time employment, project roles and shift formats - the focus is shifting from the number of hours to the result, they added. This approach was a response to the staff shortage and growing expectations of employees, especially among young people who are not ready for processing, explained Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
However, according to economist Andrey Barkhota, this may mean something else: people are increasingly looking for additional ways to earn money — through combining and part-time jobs. As a result, formally working hours may be reduced, but the actual workload increases.
And this trend can only intensify as salary growth slows down. Last year, real wages (adjusted for inflation) increased by 9.1%. This year, according to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, the indicator will be lower — 6.8%. It will continue to decline further, to 3.9% in 2028.
In the near future, it is unlikely to expect a noticeable reduction in the length of the working day, since the shortage of personnel will remain, and the need for personnel will remain high, Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets noted. According to her, serious changes are possible only with the adjustment of labor legislation, for example, by reducing the standard time and revising the rules on overtime.
Further reduction of the working day is possible with the development of trends towards work-life balance, as well as due to digitalization and automation of labor, which should increase its productivity, says Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Finance Global. However, this process will depend on the general state of the economy and regulatory regulation.
A moderate reduction in the working day can increase productivity, reduce burnout, and increase job satisfaction. This will lead to an increase in the quality of life and a decrease in staff turnover. But it is important that productivity is maintained or increased at the same time, otherwise business costs will increase, and inflation will only increase, the expert noted.
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