30 March 2026
In Russia, amid a worsening economic situation, falling demand, and rising taxes, a wave of layoffs is looming, predicts Vladislav Bykhanov, managing partner of the recruiting firm Cornerstone. “Businesses are preparing for a decline in performance and are trying to reduce the burden on the payroll… If a business has no turnover, it’s simply impossible to pay salaries at the same level,” Bykhanov stated, explaining that business activity typically declines in the summer, and entrepreneurs consider these “hungry times.”
According to Bykhanov, the new wave of layoffs being discussed by Russian businesses will allow them to “maintain stability and survive this period of turbulence.” “Companies are opting for the toughest but most immediate measures, such as shortening workweeks, downsizing, and revising the pay system,” he said. Small businesses in Russia are currently suffering the most, with nearly half of them, according to surveys , facing a collapse in profits by 2025.
“Small businesses are currently handing over cash registers en masse. For many, this is a signal that they are temporarily suspending operations or significantly reducing their scale,” the expert noted. The SME Corporation previously reported that the number of SMEs in retail alone would decrease by 11,500 in 2025. In 2026, due to the rising tax burden, another 250,000-300,000 micro-enterprises could close, according to Oleg Nikolaev, entrepreneur and member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya.
Large businesses are also preparing for mass layoffs. For example, Russian Railways, amid billion-dollar losses and declining freight traffic, will lay off 15% of its central office staff, including branch managers (a total of about 6,000 people), according to state-owned company CEO Oleg Belozerov.
According to Bykhanov, a number of sectors are currently discussing switching mechanical engineering enterprises to a three-day work week starting April 1 as an “anti-crisis tool,” and this could also affect other sectors of the economy.
Earlier, it was reported that Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), a leading steel industry company , had reduced capacity utilization to 60%, almost completely halted investment and equipment maintenance, and, like Russian Railways, planned to lay off 10% of its management staff. In a message to employees, the company’s CEO, Pavel Shilyaev, stated that this was due to a decline in demand from key consumer industries due to sanctions and “foreign policy events.”
” Many entrepreneurs are experiencing a sense of déjà vu. When the new Russian economy was just taking shape, we also saw shortened workweeks and cash-on-the-books salaries. Some companies are beginning to view informal payments as a temporary measure, as declining revenue makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the same wage bill,” Bykhanov commented.
That’s the putler plan to implement mobilzation. Starve the people to force them into getting killed in Ukraine.
And concurrently kill the economy.
“There is no money, but you hang in there”