Foreign Workers Mainly Unskilled
The increase in the quota on foreign workers in Russia in 2009 to almost 4 million people has been mainly due to a greater demand for unskilled foreign construction and industrial workers. Employers have filed fewer applications for all specialization except agriculture, according to a list published yesterday by the Russian government press service. The government resolution on foreign workers of November 7 of this year notes that “implementation of the demand to attract foreign workers to the Russian Federation is being carried out by priority professional-specialized groups.”
Applications for unskilled laborers rose from 839,000 in 2008 to 1 million in 2009. Those workers will be as construction workers, drivers, metal workers and workers in heavy industry. The demand for agricultural specialists increases to 221,000 people. The number of foreign industrial specialists will drop from 134,000 to 128,000. In finance and economics, the number of foreigners will fall from 76,000 to 57,000. Instead of 50,000 engineers, only 41,000 will work in Russia next year, as well as 23,000 chemical engineers, down from 28,000.
Experts note that the demand for foreign workers is increasing in villages as locals move to cities. Meanwhile, newly trained Russian graduates are taking places that once would have gone to foreign specialists. The experts also note that the employment figures were drawn up before the beginning of the economic crisis in Russia and may not reflect real current and future needs.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 12, 2008
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