47 Candidates for Each Job: The kremlin Hides the Collapse of the Labor Market

Just a year ago, employers in russia were literally scrambling to hire workers. Now, the situation has completely reversed.

In some segments of the labor market, the number of job openings has dropped by 25–40% year-on-year, while the number of active job seekers has increased by 30–39%. In marketing, consulting, the office sector, and entry- and mid-level IT positions, competition has reached 20–30 resumes per opening. For some occupational groups, there are 47 candidates. By comparison: in 2023–2024, there were only 3–5 resumes per vacancy in many sectors, and in blue-collar and technical fields, just 1–2.

The reasons are obvious: the economic slowdown, the russian central bank’s key rate, which is stifling lending and business activity, and the reduction in the number of international projects following the departure of foreign companies.

In parallel, hidden unemployment is on the rise. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the number of workers on furlough, part-time, or reduced hours increased by 9.9% compared to the second quarter, reaching approximately 1.6 million people.

Sociologists are observing the same trend. In April 2026, the VTsIOM unemployment index (which reflects how often people in respondents’ social circles lose their jobs) fell to minus 40 points. This is the worst figure since the start of the russian-Ukrainian war, even worse than in January 2022 (-38). The share of respondents who have four or more acquaintances who have lost their jobs rose to 7%. The number of those who have no unemployed acquaintances at all decreased: from 68% to 64%.

The kremlin, however, cheerfully reports on “stability”.  The official unemployment rate in February 2026 was 2.1%. Methodologically, this figure does not account for forced furloughs, reduced hours, or the mass shift of people into taxi services, delivery, and marketplaces – that is, into jobs without guarantees, adequate social protection, or a stable income.

The consequences for the rf’s economy are predictable. Fewer job openings and more competitors for each position mean downward pressure on wages, and consequently, on consumption. Businesses, which now have a pool of candidates to choose from, will be in no hurry to raise wages and will increasingly shift workers into less secure forms of employment. The labor shortage that moscow was so proud of has turned out to be a mirage, behind which there is a long line of unemployed people.