British government: Russian economy probably lacks thousands of skilled workers

2023-09-11T11:32:15.621Z

Highlights: The British government sees a shortage of skilled workers as an increasing problem for the Russian economy. According to this, there was an increasing shortage of workers in industry. It is questionable whether this will decisively weaken Russia. The search for workers leads to an increase in real wages. In July, for example, real wage growth was 10.5 percent year-on-year. Satisfaction as a result of higher earnings, in turn, could benefit the Russian government. The regime in Moscow is also benefiting from failed sanctions against Russia.

The British government sees a shortage of skilled workers as an increasing problem for the Russian economy. According to this, there was an increasing shortage of workers in industry. It is questionable whether this will decisively weaken Russia.

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Workers at a Moscow car factory: labor is in short supply

Photo: Komsomolskaya Pravda / Russian Look / IMAGO

Russia lacks thousands of skilled workers due to the war of aggression against Ukraine – according to British estimates, this is increasingly becoming a problem. The mobilization and conscription have exacerbated the labor shortage outside the defense sector, the British Ministry of Defense said on Monday at the short message service X (formerly Twitter).

Thus, the shortage of workers in industry reached a record in July, the ministry wrote, citing figures from the Yegor Gaidar Institute of Economic Policy.

Last year, around 100,000 IT workers also left Russia. That's about ten percent of the forces in the industry, the British wrote in their daily update. In contrast to recruitment efforts in other industries, Russia has now taken measures here to retain workers. In September, for example, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree raising the age limit for recruiting IT specialists from 27 to 30 years.

This shows that mobilization and conscription in Russia have exacerbated the shortage of non-defense workers.

"In the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for March 2024, Russian authorities are likely to try to avoid further unpopular mobilizations," the British wrote.

However, the development of the Russian economy does not indicate that the shortage of skilled workers is decisively weakening it. The search for workers leads to an increase in real wages. In July, for example, real wage growth was 10.5 percent year-on-year. Satisfaction as a result of higher earnings, in turn, could benefit the Russian government.

The regime in Moscow is also benefiting from failed sanctions against Russia. According to Moscow, the Russian economy is said to have grown slightly again in the first months of the year.

The British Ministry of Defence has been publishing daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Moscow accuses London of disinformation.

mmq/beb/dpa

British government: Russian economy probably lacks thousands of skilled workers

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