Due to a shortage of personnel, businesses have begun to hire retirees and students more often – Kommersant

The Bank of Russia reported a continued deficit in the labor market with a record low unemployment rate. According to the Central Bank report “Regional Economy: State University Comments” (.pdf), to cover the shortage of personnel in the regions, employers began to hire pensioners, students and foreigners more often.

As an example of the consequences of personnel shortages in the regions, the Central Bank’s report provides data on a decrease in the efficiency of several enterprises. This includes delays in the shipment of goods to stores due to a critical shortage of warehouse personnel at enterprises in the Oryol region.

Among the measures taken by companies against the backdrop of personnel shortages are increasing wages and implementing their own housing programs for employees. “By September, a large agricultural holding had built two cottage villages in the Belgorod region and provided apartments for non-resident workers in the Bryansk and Kursk regions,” the report says. The Central Bank notes that it considers the increase in wages to be a pro-inflationary factor that supports the rate of price growth against the backdrop of a weakening ruble exchange rate.

The Central Bank draws attention to the fact that during the harvesting campaign in August-September, the agricultural sector faced not only a fuel shortage, but also a shortage of personnel, mainly drivers and machine operators. According to the regulator, one of the popular solutions to this problem has been to involve local residents and students in field work that does not require skills, including harvesting vegetable crops.

At the end of August, the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting (TSMAKP) noted that the situation in the labor market is heating up against the backdrop of growing demand for labor, a deterioration in its supply due to a decrease in the number of migrants (the impact of the weakening of the ruble) and competition from contract service in the Armed Forces RF. The TsMAKP believes that the combination of labor shortages and high hidden unemployment “turned out to be characteristic” for the Russian economy.

Read more about the situation on the labor market in the Kommersant article. “The poor will pay more”.