The Russian economy will need 105,000 foreign workers in 2020. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova at a meeting of the Russian tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations.
The figure of 105 thousand is registered in the draft government decree. This is a quota for visa migrants, visa-free travel to Russia without quotas. As Golikova explained, the need for visa migrants is determined on the basis of proposals from the regions and is formed taking into account the priority provision of jobs to Russian workers, as well as on the basis of trends in the labor market. Such foreigners will be attracted mainly to jobs requiring professional qualifications.
“This is 96.5% of the demand for 2020. For example, about 30 thousand people are planned to be attracted to the jobs of workers in mining, capital, construction and repair, and construction works,” she said. In the metalworking and engineering industries, the demand is almost 12 thousand people. The demand for industrial plant operators is more than two thousand. The resolution will help in the implementation of projects such as the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, the West Siberian Petrochemical Complex for the deep processing of hydrocarbons into polyolefins, she added.
Why the need for foreign workers?
The population of Russia is aging and declining. New technologies, in which the need for human labor will be minimized, are a matter of the future (quite distant), therefore, reasoning on the topic “several million workers will be released in Russia soon” is still from the field of sci-fi fantasies. Without a migratory influx, the population will decrease by more than six million people by 2035 (according to the UN forecast – by 6.5 million), especially the most productive working age groups will suffer.
The influx of migrants in a sense is a sign of the country’s well-being since there is a need for them even in countries that are far ahead of Russia in terms of economic development.
Of course, Russia is interested in long-term migrants who themselves seek to assimilate and become a part of the host community. Their children, as a rule, will no longer be different from their peers – not migrants.
But temporary migrants, primarily labor migrants, are also needed. Many activities — for example, agriculture — involve seasonal employment, and the use of additional, temporary labor is required. In addition, not all migrants seek to resettle forever: they have worked, earned money (and contributed to the economy), and returned home without creating a burden on social funds in Russia and without requiring conditions for accommodation.
Is it easy to become a Russian citizen?
According to the General Directorate for Migration, 99.9% of all applicants receive citizenship in a simplified manner. Until 2011, the waiting period did not exceed one and a half years, for citizens of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus the waiting period was only three months. Now the terms have only slightly increased but in most cases, it shouldn’t take longer than a year.
But the simplification of getting Russian citizenship is not necessarily a good thing. Even Russian speakers need some time to grow into a new life, to understand how everything works in the country. In fact, the government is trying to solve all migration problems with the help of simplified and total citizenship. Living with a residence permit or a temporary residence permit is still difficult, so everyone is eager to get a passport as soon as possible. If a number of burdens were removed from foreigners who have a RVP or a residence permit, the flow of people wishing to obtain citizenship would decrease.
