Demand for taxi drivers and agricultural workers may decline

Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Labor and Employment Yan Talbatsky said TASSthat the demand for taxi drivers, couriers and agricultural specialists may decrease in Russia due to the digitalization of industries. At the same time, he noted that this trend opens up new opportunities for retraining for other professions.

According to Mr. Talbatsky, the demand for drivers will decline in the near future due to the development of unmanned vehicles. He cited the example of a decrease in demand for taxi dispatchers – now people place orders mainly through digital services.

“It is clear that this will not be used on a very large scale now, and in 2025 we will see exclusively unmanned taxis driving around Moscow, but at the same time this trend will gain momentum,” he said on the sidelines of the All-Russian Labor Safety Week, which is taking place at the Sirius Science and Art Park (September 26-29).

The demand for couriers, according to Yan Talbatsky, will also decrease due to the development of delivery without human intervention. The reduction in demand for employees in the agricultural sector is already occurring due to the development of technology and production. “For example, now you can see automatic irrigation systems in the fields – when a person is not required, only an operator is required who sets a certain program. In the same way, you can see equipment without drivers that harvests or carries out certain agricultural work,” said Mr. Talbatsky.

On September 26, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov also announced an expected decrease in demand for specialists in agriculture due to increased labor productivity. He noted that demand will grow for specialists in the manufacturing industry, as well as in the science and IT sectors. On September 21, President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to begin issuing a forecast on personnel requirements for the Russian economy from 2024. It was noted that the order to annually prepare five-year forecasts on personnel needs was caused by “record low unemployment.”

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Work Forecast”.