there are almost no workers left in the economy – Kommersant

The head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said that there are almost no workers left in the Russian economy. As the head of the Central Bank reported, the situation with personnel is particularly difficult in the mechanical engineering and chemical industries.

Now, according to Elvira Nabiullina, all available resources are being used in Russia. For further economic growth, labor productivity needs to increase, the head of the Central Bank noted.

“Unemployment is 3%, and in some regions even less – this means that there are practically no workers left in the economy, the situation with personnel is really very acute, especially in those industries that have exceeded the pre-crisis level – mechanical engineering, the chemical industry,”— said Ms. Nabiullina, speaking in the State Duma (her words are quoted by Reuters).

According to Central Bank surveys, most enterprises experience a shortage of personnel. When deputies asked to introduce preferential lending to support industries, Elvira Nabiullina said that attempts to boost economic growth through cheap loans could result in additional inflation. “If we loosen our grip, we will not gain anything; inflation will still have to be reduced, but from a higher level,” she noted.

Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov called Low unemployment in Russia is a drag on the economy. According to him, human capital has become the scarcest resource in the Russian economy.

By data Central Bank, since the beginning of 2023, industry has had the lowest level of personnel in the last 25 years. In September report The Bank of Russia’s report on the regional economy says that 60% of enterprises reported a shortage of personnel.

As Kommersant previously reported, in 2023, 42% of enterprises in the Russian Federation would like to increase the number of their employees – by an average of 13%. At the same time, some of them, especially in the industrial sector, complain about difficulties in recruiting qualified employees – filling a vacancy can take up to four months.

Read more in the material “Lack of content”.

Anastasia Larina