Thousands of Russian workers could soon be laid off by two of the country’s biggest companies.
The Kremlin is grappling with a growing economic crisis that has seen interest rates climb to a record high of 21%.
The Central Bank was forced to hike rates late last year, as inflation threatened to spiral out of control.
Officials have not ruled out a further rise, with some experts predicting a rate of 22% by the end of the first quarter of this year.
Many Russian firms are now struggling to pay back loans and could face bankruptcy, including those in the energy and banking sectors.
In a sign of the increasing crisis gripping the economy, two major companies appear poised to announce a wave of mass redundancies.
The energy giant Gazprom is considering slashing staff by almost 40% at its headquarters in Saint Petersburg.
The company’s deputy chairwoman Yelena Ilyukhina proposed laying off 1,600 of its 4,100 employees in a letter she sent to Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller.
The energy giant has seen a sharp downturn in income since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In particular its gas trade to Europe has collapsed, leading the company to announce an annual net loss in 2023 – the first since 1999.
Moreover, shares in the company plummeted to a 16-year low last month, just weeks before an agreement that had allowed Russian gas to flow to Europe through Ukraine was set to expire.
In another major blow, one of Russia’s largest banks, Sberbank, looks set to wield the axe at several of its subsidiaries.
These include Cooper, MegaMarket, SberLogistics and Samokat. Between 30 to 50% of employees will be reportedly affected, including IT specialists.
The news was reported on the Telegram Channel belonging to the union representing IT workers.
“A wave of redundancies is beginning at the companies Cooper, MegaMarket, SberLogistics and Samokat, according to employees,” they wrote.
“All four companies are part of Ecom.tech. 30 to 50% of workers will be laid off. No official announcement has been made yet.”
SberBank is one of the top five largest employers in Russia and has around 210,000 employees.
