Russia’s labor shortage has become common knowledge. Even the Central Bank cites it when it explains why it cannot lower interest rates. Yet another group is growing increasingly vocal: people who have lost their jobs and cannot find new ones in their fields.

Many are experienced, highly qualified professionals from some of the most advanced sectors of the Russian economy. What is happening?

Russia’s official unemployment rate rose to 2.3% in September from 2.2%, according to the state statistics agency Rosstat. That remains well below the 3.5 to 4% generally considered a normal level and should indicate a severe shortage of workers.

But workers themselves say there are no jobs in their professions outside industries connected to the war or the state’s machinery of surveillance and control.

“I see people around me with more than 15 years of experience in their fields taking jobs in delivery services and warehouses, sorting and packing orders,” one woman wrote on a social network banned in Russia.

In August, the number of vacancies on Russia’s largest recruitment platform HeadHunter fell 13% from a year earlier, while the number of active résumés rose 25%. Competition among applicants reached its highest level in eight years.

Meanwhile, 93% of employers claim to face staff shortages, even as they reduce hiring. Companies say applicants lack the skills they need. That explanation becomes harder to accept when people with more than a decade of experience cannot secure an interview.

Experienced professionals are discovering that employers do not want them. In fact, employers increasingly seem reluctant to hire anyone. When they do seek workers, recruiters struggle to process the flood of applications.

“Are there any jobs left in Russia?” one senior software developer with more than 11 years of experience building complex projects and managing teams asked online. He had never had a problem finding work, he said, and so when his department was cut, he expected to find another position within two weeks. Three months later, he was still looking.

Russian Central Bank Governor Warns of Unprecedented Labor Shortage

Social media is full of accounts like these. A marketing specialist described turning down offers in January, but by September, he was grateful merely to receive a reply from a recruiter. A public relations manager said she had sent thousands of applications and completed 12 interviews in two months without receiving any substantive feedback. She........

© The Moscow Times