New approaches are being discussed to address the labor shortage in the Russian labor market. According to Alexander Kalinin, head of the "Opora Rossii" organization, the country's economy needs an additional 2 million foreign workers. The current decline in the number of foreign workers in Russia from 6 million to 4 million has further exacerbated this shortage.
Experts suggest abandoning the current patent system and switching to an organized recruitment mechanism (orgnabor). Under this system, employer companies search for employees themselves, form lists, cover their travel expenses, and hire them for a specific period based on established quotas.
Proponents of the proposal emphasize that the current patent system allows foreign citizens to freely change employers and fields of activity, which in some cases can lead to non-transparent labor relations. Organized recruitment is intended to make the process more targeted and controlled.
It is noted that the growth rate of labor productivity in the Russian economy (averaging 1.4%) is insufficient to fully cover existing vacancies. Therefore, changing the procedure for attracting foreign workers could lead to significant changes in labor migration policy in the future.
