Number of employers in Russia changing form of workers' employment on the rise

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) - Although the situation on Russia's labor market is stable and the number of registered unemployed has decreased, there has been an increase in the number of employers who have changed the form of workers' employment and an increase in part-time and idle time work, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said at a meeting of the interagency working group for restoring the labor market.

"Despite the fact that the situation on the labor market is stable and we are even seeing some decrease in the number of registered unemployed, the number of employers who have announced a change in the form of employment is increasing, as is the number of workers working short days and in downtime mode. Changes in the work of employment services are aimed at responding to this situation," Golikova was reported as saying by her office.

On orders from the government, the Labor Market has approved methodological recommendations for employment services and sent them to the country's regions, she said.

The work that the Labor Ministry will be doing with the Federal Labor and Employment Service and Russia's regions has two key components: working with companies that could see layoffs and cooperation with companies that have job openings, Golikova said.

"These are new avenues for the work of employment services that we previously did not use. They include preventative monitoring of employers facing the threat of shutting down operations, proactive offers to provide support through employment services, implementation of federal measures to support employment, and personal support for employers, including the creation of mobile employment center teams that will include a personal manager overseeing the relevant employer, a career advisor and psychologist," Golikova said.

She said employment services will work in their regions in such a way that all businesses will be assigned to service employees and each employee feels personal responsibility for conditions at this business.

Labor Ministry figures show that, as of March 23, 95,000 workers in Russia had been put on down time due to changes in operations at their companies. However, there have not been mass layoffs at companies, the ministry said.

In addition, almost 14,000 workers are on leave without pay, and about 59,000 people or 0.11% of the total number of hired workers have been let go (dismissal or renegotiation of contract due to reorganization).

There are currently 1.6 million vacancies posted on the Work in Russia website, while employment centers have fewer than 660,000 registered unemployed people.