russia Is Sinking in Staff Shortages

In August 2025, the number of officially jobless people in St. Petersburg reached 16,800, of whom 9,700 were unemployed. This is by 28.5 % and 11.3 % more than last year. Despite the increase in the number of people without work, the shortage of skilled workers in the city is only getting worse.

A similar situation is observed in Tyumen. Within a year, the official number of unemployed people increased 1.6 times. And in Kuban, the number of  the unemployed in 2025 increased by 13 %. In a number of regions, the situation is no better.

Most unemployed people do not meet the requirements of employers. Companies are looking for professionals in new technological fields – cybersecurity, data analytics, engineering – while the market is dominated by candidates from traditional industries.

Besides, businesses in russia are switching to cost-cutting mode: optimizing staffing levels, increasing workloads without raising salaries, while  some companies are even laying off staff. Against this background, there is a labour shortage in industry, transport, education, and construction.

The real problem lies not only in the shortage of personnel, but also in the low level of qualifications of a significant part of the population. In russia, the labor market has people with outdated or unnecessary skills that do not meet modern requirements. Many are unwilling to learn or retrain, which further exacerbates the personnel crisis. As a result, even with unemployment, employers cannot find suitable professionals, which clearly demonstrates the degradation of the country’s labor potential.