The Russian labor market is faced with a shortage of personnel in the segment of middle management and basic professions. The deficit is especially acute in the construction and logistics sectors, as a result of which employers have to significantly increase the salaries of line employees in basic industries in order to attract them to work. As a result, in annual dynamics, the growth of salaries of top managers of companies turned out to be almost two times lower than that of ordinary workers: 4% versus 7%. It is reported by RBC with reference to a study by HeadHunter (HH).
The recruiting agency claims that according to the results of the third quarter, the actual salary of workers in Russia increased by an average of 5 thousand rubles, or 6.4% (compared to the same period last year) and amounted to 90.5 thousand rubles before taxes. HeadHunter notes a drop in the number of qualified personnel due to the sanctions confrontation and the consequences of the war, as a result of which employers had to arrange a "wage race". Industry leaders are construction and logistics. It is in them that the most acute shortage of personnel is observed, the income of employees in these industries increased by 10 and 9% to an average of 68.8 thousand and 58.6 thousand rubles, respectively.
HH notes that the competition for employees in construction and logistics is close to a record. In October, the number of candidates for one position in the construction sector was approximately 1.2 candidates against 1.6 candidates a year earlier, in logistics – 2.1 candidates per position compared to 2.3 a year ago. The lower the indicator, the higher the shortage of personnel. Natalya Danina, Chief Labor Market Expert, Head of Client Efficiency at hh.ru, notes that a figure below 3 people per vacancy means there is a shortage of personnel, while 5-6 candidates for one position are considered the norm.
A significant increase in salaries is also observed among middle managers (heads of business areas, directors of departments, departments, regional branches) and highly qualified specialists (HR business partners, communications partners, heads of product lines teams). Their incomes grew by 7.3 and 8.5%, respectively, to 213 thousand and 179 thousand rubles. The least increase in income among top managers (only 4%) and among representatives of "intellectual work", the so-called "white collar" – by 5%.
“They (white-collar workers) have been hardest hit by the reduction in available vacancies and have faced moderately high competition for jobs this year, with an average increase of 5%. And for blue-collar workers, as well as for mass and linear personnel, who are becoming less and less on the labor market, the increase was on average 7%, ”says Danina.
The increase in wages in this segment is due to the fact that it is these employees who bear the main burden during crises. However, experts do not recommend expecting a further increase in wages in this segment, as companies' incomes will not grow in the near future due to the difficult economic situation and potential problems. Another trend that was recorded in HH is an increased increase in wages in regions that are starting to compete with the capital regions. The study says that such trends have been recorded since 2020, but now the competition for employees has intensified: on average, in the third quarter, the income of employees in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, increased by 5.8%. And in the Southern, Volga and Northwestern federal districts, the wages of workers increased by more than 6% in autumn. Near-zero dynamics (growth by 0.1%) is recorded only in the North Caucasus Federal District.
Professor of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Alexander Safonov urges to look at the data obtained with some skepticism, since the information collected by the recruiting agency does not reflect the situation in the entire labor market. The authorities, however, deny the existence of a shortage of personnel in construction: for example, the Ministry of Construction of RBC stated that there was no outflow of labor from the construction industry. At the same time, the Public Council under the Ministry of Construction has previously acknowledged problems in the market and argued that the shortage of personnel is approximately 3-5 million workers in the construction industry alone.