05/18/2025 

In Russia, the personnel shortage has reached 2.6 million people and may increase to 4 million. The main reasons for this are mobilization, emigration, and a failed personnel policy. The greatest shortage of qualified workers is in industry, transport, and the agricultural sector.

This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. Experts predict that if the dynamics continue, within five years the country will face a shortage of up to 4 million workers.

And this is no longer a temporary phenomenon, but a systemic problem that will hit the Russian economy in the long term. Russia is most acutely experiencing a shortage of medium and high-skilled personnel. The greatest deficit is in key industries:

• industry lost almost a third of its personnel: about 391 thousand engineers and equipment operators;
• trade requires over 347 thousand workers;
• the transportation industry missed more than 200,000 drivers;
• Agriculture is in a critical state – the shortage of personnel has reached 35%.

This indicates a structural imbalance in the labor market, as the country lacks not only ordinary workers, but also specialists, without whom it is impossible to maintain the basic functions of the economy. The crisis was provoked by several powerful factors at once:

• mobilization and emigration – according to data, from 650 thousand to 1.1 million people left the country to avoid conscription, among them specialists in IT, engineering, medicine, and science;
• the demographic hole of the 1990s, when the birth rate fell sharply;
• low attractiveness of work in industry and the agricultural sector due to difficult working conditions and low pay;
• lack of quality professional training – especially in technical specialties;
• a reliance on migrants instead of a systematic approach to automation and personnel training.

Some companies are trying to retain staff by raising salaries by 10-15%, but this has not had a significant effect. Due to the Kremlin’s mobilization pressure and general instability, even higher salaries do not guarantee an influx of workers.

The Kremlin is trying to compensate for the losses by mobilizing new segments of the population, attracting migrants, and offering short-term benefits to businesses. However, the lack of a comprehensive human resources policy, investment in training, and job adaptation makes these attempts ineffective.

The systemic shortage of personnel is already affecting the quality of products, the speed of production processes and the competitiveness of the Russian economy. This problem is especially acute against the backdrop of sanctions, international isolation and the war against Ukraine, which limit access to external markets and technologies. In the long term, this means a slowdown in industrial development, a decrease in the pace of construction, and the degradation of the agricultural sector and logistics systems.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, more than 2.35 million Russians are more than 30 days late on their loans, and by the end of the first half of the year this figure could reach 3.84 million. The reason is sanctions, inflation, and restricted access to new loans. Russians are forced to overspend on credit cards, as banks approve only a quarter of applications, and prices are constantly rising.

https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/ekonomika-glavnaya/economy/kremlivska-mobilizatsijna-mashina-prizvela-do-kadrovogo-kolapsu-rf-ne-vistachae-miljoniv-pratsivnikiv.htm