Jul 12, 2026
Orenburg has been unable to attract North Korean migrant workers as street cleaners due to their high wage demands, complained Mayor Albert Yumadilov. “I looked into this issue last year, but it didn’t work out… North Korean workers won’t go for 55,000 rubles. The wages there are two to three times higher,” he said.
The mayor expressed regret over the current situation, noting that North Koreans are more productive than other migrants. “They work like robots. I’ve seen it with my own eyes; they really are robots… But we simply can’t afford the wages,” Yumadilov lamented.
He also praised the work of the street cleaners from Senegal; since April, their number in Orenburg has reached 31, with four more on the way. “Of course, I’m happy. I leave and see they’re working on Sunday. Before, no one worked on Sunday! And no one worked on Saturday,” Yumadilov explained.
According to him, African street cleaners don’t ask for more money than Russian ones, but they do the hardest and dirtiest work: for example, they’re currently clearing access roads to children’s camps, where “everything is overgrown.” “If we were to buy this, to contract it out, it would cost us about three million. But we have 20 of these guys working there, and they’re doing a good job. So, of course, [our hopes] have been fulfilled,” the mayor concluded.
Orenburg authorities explained the decision to bring in workers from Africa by citing a severe labor shortage. Yumadilov said they were unable to recruit local janitors at a salary of 55,000 rubles, specifying that the Senegalese workers would be tasked with cleaning difficult areas and eliminating illegal dumps. Their contracts run until April 2027.
Amid a labor shortage, Russia is increasingly attracting migrant workers from South Asia, Africa, and North Korea. In 2025 alone, more than 56,000 workers from India and over 36,000 from North Korea entered the country.
According to Rosstat, by the end of 2025, the labor shortage reached 2.7 million people, and the quota for attracting foreign workers for 2026 was increased to 279,000—the highest level in recent decades.
Mordor can’t afford janitors? Even those from the slave state of north korea?
Is this a definite sign of collapse?
130.000 rubles for Kim, 20.000 for the workers……………………