In 2008, Russia had 2.4 million officially registered foreign workers. This is only a third of the actual number of foreigners attracted by the Russian economic boom before the recession, according to a newly released report on demographic trends in Russia prepared by the United Nations Population Fund.
Considering the estimates of the actual number of economic immigrants, the report states that foreign workers make up as much as 10 percent of the workforce in Russia, which according to official statistics amounts to 74.5 million or 52 percent of the population. In 2009, the official quota allowed for the ‘import’ of over 3 million foreign workers. However, the recession has taken its toll, particularly in severely affected sectors such as construction, so this year the government permits the employment of slightly less than 2 million foreign workers.
Although Russian experts do not fully agree with the estimates of the actual numbers of immigrant workers in the country found in the report, they share the opinion that the government still needs to find an effective migration policy. The government has so far enacted a series of new regulations regarding the employment of foreigners or amended existing ones, such as tying a foreign worker to a specific employer, but there is still no comprehensive policy that will address the challenges of future demographic trends: the labor shortage in the country and the risks associated with illegal immigration. As in other countries that receive foreign labor, foreigners mainly perform jobs that domestic workers no longer want to do or for jobs for which there are still no qualifications in the domestic labor market. (Davorka Zmijarević)
