Conscripts Instead of Firefighters and One District Police Officer Instead of Four: the War Has Devastated russia’s Labor Market

russia is experiencing a rapidly worsening personnel crisis, which has already affected law enforcement agencies, public utilities, and the civilian economy. Against the background of the war against Ukraine, the shortage of workers has become systemic, from firefighters and police officers to janitors and industrial workers.

minister of emergency situations aleksandr kurenkov has publicly acknowledged the shortage of personnel and proposed to recruit conscripts to work as firefighters. He cited low salaries as the reason for the outflow of personnel. The federal fire service (ffs), which is responsible for firefighting and emergency rescue operations throughout russia, is short of more than a third of its staff – approximately 91,200 people. The overall staffing level of the ffs units is 65.5%. The largest shortage of personnel among firefighters is in udmurtia (35%), tula (30%), and magadan (27%) regions, as well as in moscow (27%).

The situation is no better in the security forces. In a number of regions, shortages of police officers reach almost a third of the workforce, with an average of around 19% across the country. minister of internal affairs of the rf vladimir kolokoltsev has acknowledged that over the course of a year, virtually every second district police officer resigned, and those who remained “work for four”. Salaries have not been indexed for years, which only speeds up the outflow of personnel. In 2025, the number of those who resigned from the ministry of internal affairs of the rf increased by 7% (to 80,000 people). This is by 40% more than the number of those who joined the service. The shortage of personnel in the police is estimated at 40%, in criminal investigation – at 30%, in investigation – at 27%, and among district police officers – at more than a quarter. In 41 regions, the shortage exceeds 25% of personnel. 19 district-level units are short of more than half of the employees.

The shortage of medical workers and teachers is obvious.

Now the personnel shortage has also affected the civilian sector. In the far east, there is even a shortage of janitors. Employers are forced to offer significantly higher salaries and additional bonuses to attract employees.

The official unemployment rate in russia is only 2.2%, while there are about 1.7 million job vacancies. The government acknowledges that by 2030, the economy will need to attract additional 12 million workers.