Workers from Kenya will come to Russia, this was announced by the official representative of the country's State House, Hussein Mohamed. The first 10 thousand workers will arrive in Russia from Kenya in the near future. An agreement with the Russian side has been reached, he said.
Discussions are also underway about attracting workers from Vietnam to the Russian market, said independent expert in the field of migration Vadim Kozhenov. In addition, Russian employers are interested in attracting workers from the DPRK, he noted. Immigrants from this country still work on Russian construction sites, and companies are interested in increasing labor resources from North Korea.
If we evaluate these countries in terms of the volume of labor resources, then the population of Vietnam and Kenya is 100 and 50 million people, respectively, and the DPRK is 26 million people. While the countries leading in the number of labor migrants in Russia are much smaller: Tajikistan has a population of 10 million people, Kyrgyzstan - 7 million people, Armenia - 3 million people. Therefore, we are talking about truly resource-intensive countries.
Employers are increasingly aware of the shortage of migrant workers. Migration growth in the first half of 2023 decreased by approximately half compared to recent years, notes the report of the international laboratory of political demography and macro-sociological dynamics of the Gaidar Institute. There are fewer citizens of Uzbekistan, notes Kozhenov. The influx of personnel from Europe is limited. “Previously, migrants from far abroad countries came mainly from European countries. Now a number of European countries have become unfriendly for us. Therefore, the flow of workers from them has stopped,” says Vladimir Volokh, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, professor at the State University of Management.
The influx is decreasing in most areas that were suppliers of labor resources. In 2023, compared to 2022, fewer Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Moldovans, Kyrgyz, Belarusians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis entered Russia. The unfavorable exchange rate for migrants played a significant role in this.
Migrants who previously went to Russia are now redirecting to other countries where they can earn more.
Now there is a reorientation of external relations and migration flows, also in Asian and African directions, says Volokh. Potentially, countries in Africa and Asia are interested in replenishing Russia’s labor resources. And an influx of employees is theoretically possible, especially from low-income countries. While Russia is going through a period of “demographic hole”, the share of the young population in African countries is growing. Demographers classify Africa as a fast-growing continent, which will be inhabited by 2.5 billion people by 2050.
Visa-free labor migrants coming from the former CIS republics make up the majority - about 80% of the total. The remaining 20% comes from visa migrants who must obtain permission to work in Russia, says Volokh. Employers must also obtain permission to hire. A more complex employment procedure does not frighten employers and employees, but the number of visa labor migrants who have the right to work in Russia is limited by the size of the quota, Kozhenov notes. For 2024, the Ministry of Labor has established that Russia is ready to accept 155 thousand workers from visa countries. This is the size of the quota approved for this year. Additionally, there is a reserve of 51.9 thousand people, which can be distributed to regions at their request.
Discussions are also underway about attracting workers from Vietnam to the Russian market, said independent expert in the field of migration Vadim Kozhenov. In addition, Russian employers are interested in attracting workers from the DPRK, he noted. Immigrants from this country still work on Russian construction sites, and companies are interested in increasing labor resources from North Korea.
If we evaluate these countries in terms of the volume of labor resources, then the population of Vietnam and Kenya is 100 and 50 million people, respectively, and the DPRK is 26 million people. While the countries leading in the number of labor migrants in Russia are much smaller: Tajikistan has a population of 10 million people, Kyrgyzstan - 7 million people, Armenia - 3 million people. Therefore, we are talking about truly resource-intensive countries.
Employers are increasingly aware of the shortage of migrant workers. Migration growth in the first half of 2023 decreased by approximately half compared to recent years, notes the report of the international laboratory of political demography and macro-sociological dynamics of the Gaidar Institute. There are fewer citizens of Uzbekistan, notes Kozhenov. The influx of personnel from Europe is limited. “Previously, migrants from far abroad countries came mainly from European countries. Now a number of European countries have become unfriendly for us. Therefore, the flow of workers from them has stopped,” says Vladimir Volokh, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, professor at the State University of Management.
The influx is decreasing in most areas that were suppliers of labor resources. In 2023, compared to 2022, fewer Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Moldovans, Kyrgyz, Belarusians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis entered Russia. The unfavorable exchange rate for migrants played a significant role in this.
Migrants who previously went to Russia are now redirecting to other countries where they can earn more.
Now there is a reorientation of external relations and migration flows, also in Asian and African directions, says Volokh. Potentially, countries in Africa and Asia are interested in replenishing Russia’s labor resources. And an influx of employees is theoretically possible, especially from low-income countries. While Russia is going through a period of “demographic hole”, the share of the young population in African countries is growing. Demographers classify Africa as a fast-growing continent, which will be inhabited by 2.5 billion people by 2050.
Visa-free labor migrants coming from the former CIS republics make up the majority - about 80% of the total. The remaining 20% comes from visa migrants who must obtain permission to work in Russia, says Volokh. Employers must also obtain permission to hire. A more complex employment procedure does not frighten employers and employees, but the number of visa labor migrants who have the right to work in Russia is limited by the size of the quota, Kozhenov notes. For 2024, the Ministry of Labor has established that Russia is ready to accept 155 thousand workers from visa countries. This is the size of the quota approved for this year. Additionally, there is a reserve of 51.9 thousand people, which can be distributed to regions at their request.