The number of Russian companies trying to expand their headcount has dropped by more than 50% in yet another blow to Vladimir Putin and his country’s struggling economy. A new survey conducted among more than 300 professionals across Russia by job sites Robota.ru and SberPodbor showed only a quarter of respondents were planning to expand headcount from September – a huge drop from 56% at the end of last year.
The survey, supported by Russia’s largest lender Sberbank , also revealed around 12% of Russian companies were planning layoffs this autumn, up four percentage points from last year. Nearly two-thirds of firms expected stable headcount. Alexander Veterkov, deputy CEO of Rabota.ru and chief operating officer of SberPodbor, said: “The market is going through a phase of correction and ‘cooling’, where businesses are getting rid of the excess.”
Veterkov said construction and finance may be the first industries to experience cutbacks as rising borrowing costs dampen consumer demand.
The Centre for Countering Disinformation (CDD) under the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine revealed that “urban construction suffers the most from personnel shortage. According to Russian experts, in five to seven years, there will simply be no one to build houses in Russia.”
In contrast, sectors such as import substitution, government-backed industrial production, the defense industry, pharmaceuticals, and cybersecurity are maintaining or even expanding their workforce, Veterkov said.
“The greatest demand and, as a result, the most competitive salary offers are now concentrated in the IT sector, manufacturing and industry, logistics and customer experience development,” he added.
Unemployment in Russia has dropped to record lows, and certain sectors are experiencing labor shortages after hundreds of thousands of Russian men left civilian jobs to fight in Ukraine. However, the economy is starting to slow due to soaring interest rates, and Sberbank CEO German Gref warned last week that the country could face a recession unless rates are significantly reduced.
“The second quarter can practically be considered technical stagnation,” Gref said at an economic forum last week. He added: “July and August show pretty clear signs that we’re getting close to zero (economic growth).”
Asked whether he agreed with Gref, Putin said: “No. He knows, we are in constant contact with him. He participates in many of our meetings, which are held, including those with me, with the government, and the central bank.”