Olga Magomedova, Researcher at the Gaidar Institute’s International Best Practices Analysis Department, commented on the situation regarding the easing of the labor shortage in the job market.
According to the expert, the labor shortage is decreasing today not because businesses are finding more new employees, but because companies are restructuring processes and redistributing tasks.
“The labor shortage is decreasing not through hiring, but through work optimization. But where this is not possible, competition for employees persists—and this supports wage growth,” noted Olga Magomedova.
According to her, employees are guided by perceived inflation (around 16%) rather than the official rate, which is why they are demanding higher incomes. At the same time, productivity is not growing, while the workload on employees is increasing.
As a result, businesses are reaching the limit of their personnel expenses, cutting costs, and accelerating digitalization, especially in document management processes. The greatest pressure remains in sectors where it is difficult to replace people with technology, such as healthcare, housing and utilities, and construction.