29.10.2023 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP

There is a shortage of personnel in Russia. There is a shortage of cooks, teachers, doctors, and janitors. Russian industries are experiencing a shortage of personnel.

In the Russian Federation, experts claim that the reason is the weakening of the ruble: they say, after the domestic currency collapsed in the fall, migrants began to leave work and the country. In fact, the reason is the war that the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine. And people from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are being seized en masse and forced to go fight in Ukraine.

Cooks are drafted into the army straight from work

Russian restaurants and cafes were the first to feel the shortage of personnel. Now the market is full of vacancies for chefs, but there are many times fewer applicants. The most vacancies for these positions are in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Krasnodar Territory.

“We needed to open a restaurant in Moscow, so the owner hired a chef for three thousand dollars! He paid any money just to start a business. And this is practiced everywhere. Don’t believe it if they tell you that the reason is Covid, they say, because restaurants were closed for a long time, and some of them did not open at all after the epidemic. In fact, migrants work in the kitchens of Moscow and St. Petersburg. And for a year now they have been drafted into the army, to the front. Many were taken away, and those who remained, got scared, went home to wait out the war” says a restaurant employee with the nickname “Ali” on one of the Russian forums.

Others support him and write that this happens in many Russian cities. To open an establishment, the owners hire kitchen workers at high salaries, then reduce them or simply deceive them and do not pay them.

“There are still not enough bartenders, cleaning staff, and support workers,” complains the owner of a bar in St. Petersburg.

“The security forces once came to our restaurant and took away all the men from the kitchen and the waiters. The next day, none of them came to work. Most were sent to fight. Those who were able to escape or get out are now hiding. The security forces even go into mosques and there, they are drafted into the army. Naturally, Muslims either go to their homeland or hide; none of them want to fight,” admits a Moscow resident named Nikolai.

Now in a Russian restaurant you have to wait much longer for your order. Visitors don’t like this very much; they create scandals and leave without paying. The reason is that one chef is forced to prepare hot and cold dishes at the same time because there are not enough hands.

The owners are raising the prices of food to increase the salaries of those who remain. And Russians who have lost income due to the depreciation of the ruble already go to establishments less often. Moreover, middle-class restaurants and cafes suffer the most from this.

Although in Russian statistics everything is fine with figures on the income of citizens, some Russian experts say that 25% of Russians have a hole in their personal budget. They don’t have enough money for necessities, let alone going to a restaurant.

“We’re covered in dirt up to our ears”

There is also a problem in the Russian construction business. Migrants from the former republics have long been working on construction sites. They are mainly engaged in construction and ancillary work. But due to the fact that they are captured en masse and sent to war, now they are also in short supply.

According to the Gaidar Institute, 15% fewer migrants entered Russia this year.

There was even a shortage of workers among janitors. According to official data, there are a shortage of 200 thousand people in the housing and communal services sector. And if earlier in Moscow and St. Petersburg these people kept courtyards and streets clean, now the situation has changed dramatically.

“No one is sweeping the leaves, no one is picking up the trash, the entrances and playgrounds have become dirty. All our Uzbek janitors have disappeared. In their place they are taking their relatives, drunks who don’t know how to work. And this is a real problem, soon we will be covered in dirt up to our ears,” complains pensioner from Moscow Lyudmila Afanasyevna.

There are also not enough teachers in Russian schools. Russian officials conservatively estimate that 1% of vacancies are empty, but in fact experts say that at least 3.7% of teachers are missing.

“Men are drafted into the army, they are state employees, they have nowhere to go. Some people went somewhere – abroad, to their homes in other cities and towns. No one wants to die at the front,” admits a teacher from Novosibirsk.

There are no doctors, nurses, even orderlies. Because of this, medical institutions are being merged in some regions. They stand half empty, and at least the doctor will be able, in addition to shifts at the clinic, to work part-time at the hospital.

They complain about staff shortages even in the areas of foreign economic relations. Young specialists arrive completely unprepared, while more experienced ones have left, hid, or are already at the front.

Therefore, companies are looking for workers who are willing to combine the positions of lawyer, financier, marketer, IT specialist with knowledge of a foreign language for one salary.

If this continues, then soon there will be no one to work in the Russian Federation. They are already talking about letting Bangladeshis and Pakistanis into the country. True, you can’t just send them to the front.

https://war.obozrevatel.com/v-rossii-nekomu-rabotat-v-restoranah-na-strojkah-i-v-zhkh-migrantyi-begut-iz-moskvyi-i-pitera-iz-za-vojnyi.htm?_ga=2.55444195.910962063.1698265935-1404911090.1673192140&_gl=119hdekv_gaMTQwNDkxMTA5MC4xNjczMTkyMTQw_ga_JBX3X27G7H*MTY5ODYwNDE4Ni40NTAuMS4xNjk4NjA0MTkwLjU2LjAuMA..