Most Russians working abroad want to return home – Forbes
The majority of Russians working abroad are eager to return to the country, Forbes reported on Tuesday, citing a survey by research company Yakov & Partners and staffing agency HeadHunter.
According to the findings, 62% of respondents are ready to return to the country in the near future, either for personal reasons or better chances at getting a well-paying job.
“Among the main reasons [for return], they highlight personal circumstances, better career opportunities and a more favorable economic outlook for the country as a whole,” Elena Kuznetsova, a co-author of the survey, noted.
Amid the conflict in Ukraine and the ensuing Western sanctions, Russia faced an outflow of residents last year, which was most noticeable after the partial mobilization was announced in September. The exact number of Russians who left the country is unknown, but, according to a Forbes source citing Kremlin estimates, it was close to 1 million people. Another source in the presidential administration told the news outlet the numbers range between 600,000 and 700,000 people. Russian officials have not confirmed these numbers. Analysts at Alfa Bank, in their recent study, estimated that about 1.2 million people may have left the country in the third quarter of last year alone.
However, according to Kuznetsova, the survey shows “we can expect the migration flow that emerged in 2022 to change its direction in the next year or two.” For instance, while the number of applicants who are ready to leave Russia for a new career opportunity is 58%, only 6% of the respondents said they were actively looking for such jobs. The most popular destinations for those ready to move are the US and Canada.
Overall, according to analysts, the key factors of choosing employment for Russian job seekers remain unchanged in spite of the geopolitical situation in Russia and the rest of the world. Some 92% of respondents cited financial stability of the employer, while 89% said their job choice would mostly depend on salary. The majority of respondents named large, private Russian and international companies as their ideal places to work.
Also, according to Kuznetsova, the Covid-19 pandemic and the “geopolitical turbulence” of the past year has made job seekers change their stance on long-term employment.
“Russian job seekers have shown a very high level of activity this year: 38% are ready to become self-employed, and one in ten is already taking steps to change their status. Moreover, 97% of the survey participants said that they were ready to retrain in order to remain competitive in the labor market,” she stated.
About 7,000 job seekers and more than 220 employers across Russia took part in the survey.
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