Unpaid Leave Has Become the New Norm for 4 Million Workers in the rf

In 2025, russia saw a further increase in hidden unemployment. The total number of part-time workers in large and medium-sized enterprises grew by 12% year-on-year – to 5.5 million people.

The growth affected all categories of underemployment. The largest group consists of workers sent on unpaid leave – 4 million people (+9%). Another 1.3 million people work part-time by agreement of the parties (+13%). At the same time, the fastest growth rates were demonstrated by workers in a downtime – their number increased by 165,000, or 1.6 times, as well as workers transferred to part-time work at the initiative of the employer – plus 69,000, which means an eightfold increase.

The highest level of part-time employment in 2025 was recorded in the hotel and restaurant business – 34%, manufacturing – 27%, and construction – 23%. The largest absolute increase was in the manufacturing industry: the number of part-time workers in the sector increased by 265,000 people, or by 20.5%.

Signs of further weakening in the labor market remain at the beginning of 2026. In January, about 10% of companies reported staff reductions, while another 12% reported reduced working hours to optimize costs.

The growth in part-time employment actually masks the scale of the economic downturn. Formally, the unemployment rate remains low, but the actual reduction in production capacity utilization and decline in employee incomes point to systemic problems. This model makes it possible to maintain the appearance of stability, but at the same time preserves technological backwardness: instead of investing in automation, businesses are directing resources toward maintaining a cheap but inefficient workforce.