Halfway through 2025, the share of businesses in Russia that are planning to cut jobs has nearly doubled from the beginning of the year, rising from 6.9 percent in January to 11.5 percent in July, according to a report by the Russian Central Bank on regional economic trends.
The share of companies expecting to maintain current employment levels also increased, from 62 percent in January to 65 percent in June. The Central Bank noted that the decline in workforce shortages was most pronounced in the mining, engineering, and pharmaceutical sectors, attributing it to falling demand for their products. The report said that some companies have already begun reducing staff, moving to shorter workweeks, or sending employees on unscheduled leave.
The Bank also reported that in April 2025, annual nominal wage growth had slowed in most industries compared to January. This was driven in part by falling wages in the finance and insurance sector, as well as slower growth in mining, retail, and construction.
At the same time, some companies are still planning to expand their workforce, the report said. These include engineering firms in the Chelyabinsk region and companies in the Leningrad region, where major investment projects in the gas chemical industry have sharply increased the demand for labor.
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