Vladimir Yakovlev

Why Russia attracts migrant workers

A fresh study of the global labor market, undertaken in June 2018 by The Boston Consulting Group, The Network and HeadHunter, showed: in 4 years after the crisis year of 2014, Russia rose from 30th to 25th place in the ranking of attractiveness for labor migrants, ahead of Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic. And in terms of the volume of migrant workers received, the Russian Federation confidently ranks second in the world, second only to the United States.

PHOTO by Dmitry SOKOLOV

Expert estimates and statistics show: every year in the world at least 10 million people leave their countries in order to find more profitable work, sending their families more than $450 billion in total. At the same time, the picture of global labor migration looks like this: Europe accounts for approximately 33% of guest workers, Asian countries take about 28%, and North American countries - 24% (other regions - 12%).

In the professional situation, countries that consume foreign labor need both people with education and qualifications (for example, in the USA there is an urgent need for nurses, and in Russia for drivers) and unskilled workers (in Italy and Poland there is a great need for cleaners and agricultural workers, and in Germany - in social workers caring for elderly people at home). Moreover, many sectors of the economy of developed countries (such as construction, agriculture, retail trade, hospitality, etc.) have become so “addicted” to migrant labor that they can no longer refuse it. Thus, in Holland, about 30% of migrant workers are employed in the service sector. In Germany, a third of unpopular manufacturing and mining jobs are occupied by guest workers, and in the US, even in the field of education, one in six are foreigners.

According to the relevant UN department, the most attractive country for labor migrants in terms of volume indicators remains the United States, which receives about 45.8 million people per year. Moreover, Mexico alone annually “supplies” up to 13 million workers to the States. Russia takes second place in the ranking of the volume of foreigners received (11.2 million labor migrants), followed by Germany (9.8 million), Saudi Arabia (9.1) and the UAE (7.8) in the top five most popular countries among guest workers. ). The top ten includes the UK (7.8 million labor migrants), France (7.4), Canada (7.3), as well as Australia and Spain (6.5 million each).

Despite the fact that Russia became less popular as a place of work after the 2014 crisis, it has now returned to the top of the rankings in terms of attractiveness for guest workers. Sociologists note: as an employer country, Russia is primarily popular among residents of a number of CIS countries (including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus). In addition, residents of Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey and China, as well as some Asian countries, rate the Russian Federation as an interesting place to work. At the same time, labor migrants believe that finding a job in Russia is not a problem, and the level of its payment, compared with that in their homeland, is still significantly higher.

In particular, the minimum wage in Uzbekistan (it is this country that supplies the largest number of labor migrants to Russia) is only $23 per month, and the average wage in Tashkent is approximately $200. In St. Petersburg, accordingly, the minimum salary is 16 thousand rubles (about $250), and the average offered income in vacancies is almost $700.

And if cleaners, auxiliary workers and other unskilled workers are offered only 25 - 35 thousand rubles per month, then drivers, for example, are offered from 40 to 100 thousand, and the number of available jobs for them now exceeds 3.5 thousand. Moreover Many employers are happy to hire properly registered migrant workers, offering them the same wages as Russians. If we take Moscow, then the indicators of the level of wages in the capital of the Russian Federation are even higher (by about 20%). It is not surprising that residents of many Central Asian countries are still very willing to go to work in Russia: here they can earn 4-5 times more than at home, thereby providing for their families.

Researchers also cite the language barrier as an additional incentive for labor migration to Russia: while a significant portion of residents of the CIS countries at least know Russian, they most often do not speak European languages ​​(English, German, etc.) due to a low level of education. And working in Europe without knowing the local language is almost impossible. And although they pay much more for similar work than in Russia, the overwhelming majority of CIS citizens are still focused on the Russian Federation.

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The wages of Russians in Europe have been equated to slavery - Interesant Magazine - website

The wages of Russians in Europe have been equated to slavery

German journalists found out how much migrant labor is valued at and were horrified. What would they say about the salaries of our citizens?

What comes to your mind when you hear the words “slave” and “slave owner”? Probably something like Ancient Rome during its decline. In the role of slaves - slaves from Africa or Greece. But today the word “slave” has acquired new meanings, often not even related to the slave trade. Or - connected, but differently than we used to think. This article will not talk about criminal cases when people in certain countries are actually bought and sold. We will talk about the civilized West and our country. The fact is that slavery today has become a hidden, veiled phenomenon. There's a lot to think about here.

So, have you ever wondered how different the perception of reality is in Europe and in Russia? Or is everything the same? Such thoughts are suggested by the recent publication of the German portal Die Zeit, dedicated to migrants from Africa working in the harvest in Italy.

Imagine: it’s very hot, sunny, no one wants to work, but the crops need to be harvested, and for this purpose, plantation owners hire migrants because they don’t have to pay like locals, they don’t have to comply with labor safety standards, they don’t have to deal with trade unions, make contributions to various funds, etc. They can be paid hand to hand. German journalists conducted an investigation and found out that migrants from Africa are suffering from their hard lot in the fields of sunny Italy. Journalists call it slavery, but they immediately point out that slavery is paid. Now let’s figure out how well or poorly slaves are paid and what the residents of our country might think about this.

German journalists talked with migrants and their “owners” living in the vicinity of the town of Foggia, in Southern Italy, and found out the following: for a day of work in the fields, modern European slaves receive 35 euros. So, there are approximately 21-22 working days in a month. This means that a migrant receives an average of 760 euros per month of work, or 58 thousand rubles at today’s exchange rate. Of course, some are paid more and some are paid less. Let us repeat, the Germans believe that this is a slave’s salary.

Now let's think about the difference in living standards. If we take the average salary in Russia in 2017, this figure does not stand up to comparison - about 36 thousand rubles per month, or about 470 euros. Of course, the situation may differ in different regions of our country, but you must agree that “on average in a hospital” everything is not the best.

In what professions in Russia do people receive wages comparable to the wages of migrant “slaves”? According to the portal trud.com, in St. Petersburg, for example, some higher school teachers receive such a salary. The average salary here is from 20 to 30 thousand rubles, that is, two times less than the salary of migrants in Italy.

The current situation makes me think about the meaning of the word “teacher”. And about how strangely this meaning is reflected in our modern realities. The word itself, of Greek origin, meant a slave or slave who taught children to read and write. In addition, those slaves who taught other slaves to serve in the master’s house were also called teachers. Agree, some unpleasant associations may arise if you know the meaning of the word “teacher”: one slave teaches other slaves to be slaves.

But let's return to modern times. Other categories of so-called state employees receive even less. And after the upcoming increase in the retirement age, the picture will become even bleaker. And the point is not that pensioners will now work and not sit with their grandchildren, but that finding work itself can be much more difficult for them than for “slaves” in Italy.

Retirement at 55 for women and at 60 for men gave them a guaranteed income, albeit a small one. When implementing pension reform, there will be a danger that workers will turn into slaves of a new type, not yet described by historians and sociologists.

They may object to us that prices in Europe are higher and payment for various services exceeds ours. However, the quality of life itself is higher there. The problem of European slaves is not even earnings, but their vulnerability to a country in which they are not citizens, which, however, does not prevent them from moving around Europe. We are talking about the earnings of a huge number of Russian citizens.

According to the portal trud.com, on average in Russia, none of the popular professions allows you to earn at the level of a European “slave”.

Meanwhile, the wage gap between executives and ordinary workers is growing exponentially.

Here's the latest news: almost all of the largest Russian oil and gas companies, based on the results of the first half of 2018, increased payments to members of their boards of directors and management boards.

At Lukoil, compared to the same period last year, management remuneration increased more than 8 times. Payments for each top manager (14 people) amounted to 350 million rubles. We repeat once again: for everyone!

Gazprom Neft set aside about 1.4 billion rubles for management remuneration payments for the first half of the year. This is almost one and a half times more than in 2017.

Novatek increased payments to top managers by 48 percent, to 2.1 billion rubles. Transneft - by 36 percent, to 895 million rubles. At the same time, Transneft’s net profit decreased by 85 percent over the six months of 2018.

Were you not surprised by these numbers either? In general, in recent years, we have somehow forgotten how to be surprised. Moreover, everything here is natural: where there are slaves, there must be masters.

Lana VLADIMIROVA,

Internet magazine "Interestant"

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Research by scientists from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (NRU HSE) has shown that people from Belarus, Moldova and Georgia earn the most in Russia, and those from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan earn the least.

But Tajiks and Kyrgyz are more willing to stay in Russia than Belarusians or Georgians, reports newizv.ru

According to research by the National Research University Higher School of Economics, migrant workers from Belarus earn the most in Russia on average - an average of 41.1 thousand rubles per month over the past year. All of them are “legal”, because Russia and Belarus have a single Union State. Georgians earn slightly less (35.9 thousand rubles for legal migrant workers and 33.5 thousand rubles for illegal ones) and Moldovans (35.3 thousand rubles and 33.2 thousand). People from Ukraine are already in a worse situation (30.8 thousand rubles and 30.2 thousand rubles), and the worst life in Russia is for Tajiks (27.9 thousand rubles and 25.1 thousand rubles), Uzbeks (29.0 thousand rubles and 27.2 thousand rubles) and Kyrgyz (29.3 thousand rubles and 27.2 thousand rubles).

“At the same time, the working week for migrants is one and a half times longer than for citizens of the Russian Federation - 59 hours versus 39.6 hours,” reports ria.ru. - Employers of migrants are mainly small (40.3%) and medium-sized (35.7%) enterprises, which entrust them with unskilled work, although 60% of them worked with higher qualifications at home.

A third of all foreigners surveyed in Russia work in wholesale and retail trade, repair of vehicles and household products, and another 13.9% work in utilities, social and personal services. The share of migrants in construction decreased to 16.4% compared to 23.1% in 2011, and in households, on the contrary, almost doubled - to 8%.”

One of the most common misconceptions, especially among supporters of the mass attraction of guest workers, is “who will then work as a janitor.” In fact, there are not so many janitors even in such a huge city as Moscow - according to the staffing table there are only 50 thousand, but migrants and migrant workers are in no hurry to work as janitors - 28 thousand of these positions are vacant and there are only 22 thousand janitors in Moscow, which is only 0.2% of the city's population. It’s just that windshield wipers are always in plain sight for ordinary people who don’t understand the essence of the issue, and therefore “visually” it seems that all “newcomers” are wipers. But there are at least a hundred times more migrant workers in Moscow than 22 thousand! Likewise, migrant workers are in no hurry to go to work in hard work in the same mines in mining regions.

“Of the number of working citizens of Tajikistan in the Russian Federation, only 35.2% would like to stay forever, fewer are immigrants from Belarus (34.2%), which is part of the Union State with Russia,” reports ria.ru.

“What are the benefits of Central Asian migrants for authorities and business? They receive no more than 60% of the average salary of a Russian, but they also work on average (as reported by the Higher School of Economics) 59 hours a week versus 39.6 for Russian citizens,” comments historian and journalist Pavel Pryanikov.

As Evgeny Chernetsov reported, his department’s attempts to establish a civilized reception in Moscow foreign labor with preliminary training of workers in the country of residence were unsuccessful. In particular, the ZIL plant, instead of the 10 qualified foundry workers for which it applied, hired 600 workers of unknown qualifications.

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In the context of the ongoing crisis and the reduction of vacancies in the labor market, the presence of an entire army of labor migrants in Russia has a negative impact on the financial situation of Russian citizens. Many Russian sociologists and economists have already spoken about this more than once. And finally, it seems, the “voice of reason” has reached the Moscow authorities, who until relatively recently addressed migrant workers from all over the post-Soviet space with the motto “All flags - come visit us!”

At the round table held yesterday in Moscow () “Migrants and Muscovites – neighbors or competitors?” Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Committee for Interregional Relations and National Policy Evgeny Chernetsov admitted that if cheap migrant labor had not dominated construction sites and industrial enterprises in the capital, the salaries of many Muscovites could have been much higher than the current ones. According to him, a paradoxical situation has developed in Moscow when a highly qualified welder cannot find a job and, sitting at home, watches from the window of his apartment how poorly trained migrants from Central Asia cost 10 thousand rubles. per month they work at a nearby construction site. Chernetsov stated that the level of wages of working Muscovites in blue-collar professions could be 60% higher than the current one if they did not have competitors among guest workers. This is not to mention the fairly typical situation when “labor mercenaries” from abroad openly take away jobs from the local population.

It is not difficult to assume that fans of the liberal concept of migration freemen in Russia may object in the spirit that it would be nice for qualified Muscovite specialists to moderate their appetites in a crisis and not disdain to work for 10 thousand rubles. per month. We can only advise such people to become voluntary participants in an extreme reality show called “Stretch a month in Moscow for ten.” Especially when it comes to large families with one working breadwinner, which, unfortunately, is not uncommon in times of crisis and rising unemployment. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that a sharp drop in the population’s income will have a strong impact on effective demand, which, in turn, will lead to another round of economic recession, a reduction in the number of jobs and the final impoverishment of the population - with all the ensuing consequences of social political properties.

Well-known political scientist and public figure Andrei Savelyev shared his thoughts on the reasons for such an unexpected insight from the capital’s authorities:

– The fact that uncontrolled flows of migrants pose a threat to social stability is quite obvious and understandable even to the average person who does not particularly think about these processes. The city authorities were well aware of this danger. But at some point it was extremely profitable to hire hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant workers on Moscow construction sites. This increased the rate of profit in the capital's construction complex. And those who came legally received vacancies as Moscow janitors and a much lower salary. This was the policy - to save on everything, increasing the income of shadow businesses.

According to official data alone, there are 800 thousand illegal immigrants and 200 thousand legal migrants in the capital, and according to unofficial data, no less than 2 million people. Muscovites and residents of the Moscow region could work in these full-time positions. The thesis about the labor shortage is a myth. It’s just that the Moscow bureaucracy and corrupt representatives of the construction business prefer not to pay people decent wages and make contributions to various social funds in order to import masses of virtually powerless slaves to Russia. And when now these people are no longer needed, a reversal of rhetoric arises in order to shift responsibility from a sore head to another head. Namely, to the Federal Migration Service. Moscow authorities say that it was almost the latter who organized a situation in the capital that was fraught with social instability, allowing huge numbers of illegal immigrants to enter the city. In fact, they themselves contributed to this. And now, you see, they have burst through. It’s just that in a recession, it is no longer possible to maintain the previous rate of profit in the industry and support migrants, and expelling them at the expense of the city budget is expensive. So the authorities want someone else to pay for it, for example, the Federal Migration Service and the federal budget. This is the main reason for this “love of truth”, which suddenly appeared in the speeches of capital officials.