The Russian labor market: A statistical portrait on the crises background

Abstract

The paper examines long-term trends in the evolution of the Russian labor market, as well as its short-term adjustments to negative economic shocks. The analysis covers a wide array of indicators, both quantitative and price ones. The results obtained show that the Russian labor market is in a process of restructuring. Labor force and employment are on long-term downward trends, unemployment has fallen to a record low, after a long period of stagnation, labor turnover has sharply intensified, and vacancies have reached an all-time high. At the same time, its algorithm of responding to negative shocks remained virtually unchanged. As before, short-term adjustments are brought about mainly through decline in wages and contraction of working hours, rather than through decrease in employment and increase in unemployment (“the Russian labor market model”).