Labor Migrants in the Context of Russian Demographic, Economic, and Social Development Problems

Текст статьи.

Abstract

The chapter describes current demographic, economic, and social factors that affect flows of labor migration into the Russian Federation, as well as major trends in the transformation of the composition of labor migration from post-Soviet countries. For Russia, labor migration will be a key means of compensating for decreases in the labor force which are foreseen for upcoming decades. As a result, among traditional problems that migrants face at the local labor markets (access to the labor market, competition against local workers, and discrimination practices), one of the main challenges both for Russia and the sending countries is the inefficient use of the human capital of the labor migrants. At the same time, current migration policies do not include a comprehensive approach towards migration, and thus cannot overcome the challenges the Russian society and economy will in both mid- and long-term perspectives. The author concludes with a justification of the fact that for Russia there are no other policy options but integration. The chapter describes current demographic, economic, and social factors that affect flows of labor migrationinto the Russian Federation, as well as major trends in the transformation of the composition of labormigration from post-Soviet countries. For Russia, labor migration will be a key means of compensatingfor decreases in the labor force which are foreseen for upcoming decades. As a result, among traditionalproblems that migrants face at the local labor markets (access to the labor market, competition againstlocal workers, and discrimination practices), one of the main challenges both for Russia and the sendingcountries is the inefficient use of the human capital of the labor migrants. At the same time, current migrationpolicies do not include a comprehensive approach towards migration, and thus cannot overcomethe challenges the Russian society and economy will in both mid- and long-term perspectives. The authorconcludes with a justification of the fact that for Russia there are no other policy options but integration.

Content (in russ)