SERGEY TSUKHLO: “SURVEYS OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES IN APRIL RECORD HUGE STAFF SHORTAGE”

Sergey Tsukhlo, Head of Business Surveys Laboratory at the Gaidar Institute, in an April survey of industrial enterprises notes a high demand for workers with growing demand for products. The “Kommersant” is aware of the results of the survey.

In April, the surveys of industrial enterprises conducted by the Gaidar Institute (IEP) registered the output of the estimates of the current demand in the sector at the level of February 2022; in March-April the balance of the index added 8 p.p. and reached positive values. Enterprises fill their warehouses with finished products and increase output plans, while there is the largest labor shortage observed in the entire monitoring period over 1996-2023, as well as capacity shortages, recorded for the 3rd time in the history of the surveys (the first two episodes relate to 2007-2008 and late 2021 - early 2022).

“If the capacity shortage can be solved relatively quickly by investments (which the Russian industry is ready to do in Q2 and Q3 2023), it is not that easy to overcome the shortage of personnel (primarily skilled workers) so easily," said the author of the study Sergey Tsukhlo.

The government is expecting investment growth already in 2023; according to the Ministry of Economic Development, it should grow by 0.5% compared to a fairly high base of 2022 (4.6% growth due to infrastructure budget spending). By 2023, the government is already prepared to offer the enterprises an impressive line of investment incentives that compensate for the specifics of the Russian business climate.