Partial labor service – Newspaper Kommersant No. 182 (7383) dated 03.10.2022

Just a couple of weeks ago, young men were the most desirable candidates on the Russian labor market for almost any position. Their hiring or firing did not complicate pregnancy or pre-retirement status, and they themselves were not distracted from work by sudden family responsibilities or their own special needs. However, after the announcement of mobilization, they risk adding themselves to the list of categories of Russians who have so far often faced discrimination in employment – these are women, the disabled and the elderly.

In deciding on labor guarantees for those who will be mobilized to participate in the military operation in Ukraine, the government apparently sought not only to offer them additional benefits under the new social contract, but also to ensure their subsequent return to normal life. Indeed, for many of those who return, it will not be easy to adapt to it, and work is the most important institution of socialization.

However, demobilized people will most likely need to adapt to the work itself as such: in case of disability, they will need jobs adapted to their physical abilities, if with psychological trauma, some kind of rehabilitation system. And even with a successful outcome, the service is unlikely to contribute to the development of professional skills directly – workers will need to be retrained.

Most likely, employers will have to deal with organizing all this on their own – at least until the probability of state support for the adaptation of those who fought is impossible to assess. Most likely, a second shock awaits in the mass of employers – a problem for them will be not only the sudden forced departure of a person from his workplace, but also his return to work after the end of his service. With this in mind, as well as the particular problem of those who left Russia in the last week – according to some reports, their number is comparable to the scale of “partial mobilization” – companies can reduce the rate of hiring young men, paying attention to those who have traditionally lost to them in competition for jobs, including women and the elderly, as well as job seekers, for whose employment the Ministry of Labor is ready to provide benefits to companies.

As a result, the Russian labor market may be forced to become much more inclusive much faster than peacetime social policy suggested – however, it should be understood that as a result, labor productivity will decline, and prices, due to the need to pay for such a transition by companies, will rise, and as a result This transformation will have to be paid for by the entire society, as, indeed, by many others.