ACRA estimates Russia’s talent pool at 7.5 million people – Kommersant

The rating agency ACRA, in its review “Reserves of the Russian labor market,” reported that there are hidden labor reserves in Russia. These include people who do not belong to the economically active population and are not classified as unemployed. ACRA estimated the size of reserves at 7.5 million people, of which 1.5 million are young people and almost 5 million people are older people, reports RBC.

“The Russian labor market has reserves, but they do not lie in reducing the unemployment rate. Among the economically inactive population there is a significant number of people who want to work, but cannot realize this desire for various reasons,” Dmitry Kulikov, director of the group of sovereign and regional ratings ACRA, told the publication. It is noted that the agency’s assessment does not include the potential for labor immigration.

According to the Monitoring of the State of Business in Russia, at the end of 2023, 45% of Russian small and large companies called The main barrier to development is the shortage of personnel. Also among the reasons were the uncertainty of the economic situation (33%) and government policy in the economy (20%), high borrowing costs (32%) and insufficient domestic demand (28%).

According to a survey by the Institute of Economic Policy. Gaidar, in January 2024, 47% of heads of industrial enterprises complained due to the lack of qualified personnel. This is a new record for labor shortages in industry since 1996.

Read more about how the authorities plan to deal with the personnel shortage in the Kommersant article. “Department of Missing Personnel”.

Erdni Kagaltynov