Demand for Indian employees is growing among Russian companies

Russian recruitment agencies are faced with an increase in business demand for workers from countries such as India, Pakistan and even North Korea. Interest in employees without knowledge of the Russian language is caused by a shortage of labor and a reduction in the number of labor migrants from the CIS countries. Recruiters note that such workers are unlikely to “cost” the employer less than Russians and migrants already in the Russian Federation. In addition, the preparation of documents necessary for work is a rather complex process and will take at least six months. However, companies still consider attracting such workers profitable due to their “tight connection” to the inviting employer.

As Kommersant was told by a number of recruitment agencies, Russian companies are increasingly turning to them with requests to bring workers from non-CIS countries with inexpensive labor. “The situation with the shortage of workers in the manufacturing sector has worsened; it was already difficult to compete for personnel with retail and e-commerce,” says Olga Tonkikh, director of the recruiting company Ventra Industrial. According to her, some companies in the chemical industry and agro-industrial complex are forced to make non-standard solutions and hire migrants from India and Pakistan. “We are talking about unskilled workers: packers, container assemblers, production line operators,” says the recruiter.

Alexey Mironov, vice president for operational management of the ANCOR holding, also speaks of a “sufficient number” of such requests, noting that “given the shortage of personnel and the increase in wages, many companies are ready to work with migrant workers without knowledge of the Russian language.” The founder of the consulting company Support Partners, Konstantin Borisov, explains that foreign workers are now in demand among mining enterprises. “Right now, for example, we have an order to hire 50-70 tipper operators in India,” he says. Other staffing companies have faced similar requests, including Cornerstone, Kontakt Interseach Russia and Unity. “We even received a request for employees from North Korea,” says a Kommersant source in one of the recruitment agencies. Let us note that in the fall of 2023, one of the largest Russian retailers, Magnit, announced plans to attract a certain number of Indians.

Let us explain that, against the backdrop of difficulties with hiring Russians, the influx of workers from the CIS countries has also decreased in 2023.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet summed up the results of the year in this regard; according to Yulia Florinskaya from the Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, the total number of foreigners working in the Russian Federation in 2023 decreased compared to 2022 and hardly exceeded 3.5 million people (simultaneously located in the country). Before the pandemic, this figure was 4.5 million people. The expert explains the decline in interest in Russia by the weakening of the ruble. Foreigners’ fears of eventually going to a military operation zone also play a role. As for the influx of workers from non-CIS countries, it is also decreasing – if in 2016-2019 approximately 120-130 thousand people came to work in the Russian Federation annually, then last year there were only 114 thousand, says Yulia Florinskaya.

According to Artem Kireev, CEO of Welldone (logistics outsourcing), “on average, workers from India “cost” the same as Russians, plus there are expenses for their transportation and paperwork.” “But in the long run it is still profitable, so we are now looking for a contractor to bring 500 Indians to our plant,” he says. Mr. Kireev explains the benefit from attracting such workers by the fact that without knowledge of the Russian language they are unlikely to get a “counteroffer” on the labor market and quickly move to another employer. “Russians and migrants with knowledge of the Russian language are now constantly changing one company to another because of higher salaries,” the entrepreneur complains. Ignorance of the language, in his opinion, is not always an obstacle to work – you can perform routine operations, for example, in warehouses, following recorded audio instructions in your native language.

Konstantin Borisov notes the difficulties in providing such workers with the necessary documents. “We are now trying to figure out how to confirm, for example, an Indian driver’s license in the Russian Federation,” he says. A separate problem, notes Artem Kireev, is the great bureaucratic difficulties in issuing foreign passports to Indians. There are also difficulties with documents on the side of the Russian Federation – labor migrants from non-CIS countries can only come under a quota, which is formed by the Ministry of Labor at the request of employers (for 2024 it is 156 thousand people, 32 thousand more than in 2023).

“But getting a quota is a separate headache, we are just in the process now. I hope we can go through all the formal procedures quickly, but still, from paperwork to the arrival of foreigners, according to our forecasts, it will take about nine months,” says Artem Kireev. According to the owner of one of the Russian companies interested in workers from India, if registration procedures are not simplified, many employers will begin to import them illegally. “Companies that annually bring several thousand people from Bangladesh to Kazakhstan – without documents, in a container – have already come to us and offered to extend their services to the Russian Federation,” he says.

For now, employers are confident that they will be able to offer job seekers from India interesting vacancies in terms of remuneration. But, as Yulia Florinskaya notes, Russia will compete with richer countries here. “People from India go to the United Arab Emirates and other countries of the East; salaries there may be higher,” says the expert. In addition, Alexey Mironov notes, any large-scale closure of the needs of employers by migrants in Russia is impossible without the support and assistance of regional authorities. “We need to create an environment and infrastructure for migrants—the question is which regions will want to actively engage in this,” he says.

Anastasia Manuilova