The war with Ukraine has led to a shortage of personnel in the Russian market. The state is trying to solve this problem, including by involving people with disabilities in work. Employers, for their part, have become more willing to consider such candidates – but the working conditions for them are still far from ideal.
The state offers retraining and quotas to workers with disabilities
“Packer of army dry rations (part-time job). Packaging and assembly of military products for the Russian Army. The work is not difficult – anyone can do it. Any schedule: 12 hour shifts, day or night to choose from. Accessible to applicants with disabilities.”
“Teacher (teacher) of mathematics. 20,000 – 30,000 rubles. Job responsibilities are clarified with the employer during the interview. Teacher Education. Additional wishes for the candidacy are presented during a personal interview. Vacancy under quota for disabled people.”
“Tractor driver 4th category. 22,129 – 27,216 rub. Driver’s license with categories A, B, C, D, E. Work experience of 5 years. Education: Secondary vocational. Educational specialty: High-voltage power engineering and electrical engineering. Vacancy under quota for disabled people.”
Such advertisements can be seen on government and non-government job search sites if you set the filter “accessible to people with disabilities.”
In 2023, unemployment in Russia in the Russian labor market fell to a record low level of 3.2%. There has not been such a situation in Russia since 1992. According to various estimates, 800–900 thousand Russians left the country in 2022–2023, fearing reprisals and conscription for military service. At least another 300 thousand men of working age were cut off from their jobs as a result of mobilization to the front. The outflow of adult men from the labor market led to the fact that by the end of 2023, employers began to experience a shortage of personnel; there were not enough qualified workers in many areas.
In 2024, the situation, judging by data from the recruiting agency HeadHunter, became even worse. In February 2024, the number of resumes to number of vacancies index was 3.4. This means that there is very little competition for jobs in the market.
Officials are trying to cover the personnel shortage by attracting women with preschool children, pensioners and people with disabilities, including participants in the war with Ukraine, to the labor market. They are offered free retraining – for example, to become a hotel administrator, sales manager or tour guide. The government hopes that employment of people with disabilities will increase by 10% in 2024 compared to 2023. If you believe official statistics, this figure is quite achievable. In 2022, 1.51 million people with disabilities worked in Russia, and in 2023 there will be 6.2% more – 1.6 million.
The number of people with disabilities is also growing. In 2022, according to the Russian Pension and Social Insurance Fund, there were 10,932,620 such people, and in 2023 there were 108 thousand more (11,040,864). The increase can probably be explained, among other things, by the disability of participants in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
To achieve the goal of employing socially vulnerable Russians, the authorities have tightened legislation on job quotas for people with disabilities. Previously, regions could decide for themselves whether to introduce a quota at enterprises. From September 1, 2024, all companies employing more than 35 people will be required to hire people with disabilities. For them, the enterprise must allocate from 2 to 4% of jobs (the percentage is set by local authorities).
For now, the number of jobs under the quota is small. In the spring of 2024, in Moscow, where almost a million people with disabilities live, the state recruiting service “Russia’s Work” offered about 4 thousand vacancies under a quota. In the Krasnodar Territory, which ranks second after Moscow in terms of the number of people with disabilities (436 thousand), there were just over 3 thousand such vacancies.
Employers have increased demand not only for people with disabilities, but also for pensioners
Employers who are not legally required to meet a quota may elect to indicate in a job vacancy that it is accessible to people with disabilities. In 2023-2024, there will be more such companies than usual.
The fact that employers have become more loyal to applicants with disabilities is confirmed by statistics from the HeadHunter agency. Most often, the “accessible for people with disabilities” mark is placed by employers from areas where the shortage of personnel is the most acute. For example, in the field of transport and logistics, the number of vacancies for which people with disabilities could apply grew throughout 2023 and by the winter of 2024 had grown by a third. In retail trade, the dynamics are even more noticeable. At the beginning of 2023, less than a thousand employers were ready to hire a person with a disability; in the winter of 2024, there were already more than 2 thousand such employers.
Employers are more willing to hire people with acquired disabilities
Changes in the labor market have indeed occurred, according to specialized NGOs. The Yekaterinburg organization “Shestye” said that in 2023 they managed to employ seven people with disabilities who previously did not have a job. “This can be explained by various reasons, including the lack of jobs,” the fund explains. “But basically our partners cooperate based on the desire to help, based on the readiness of managers for the social component in the work of their organization.”
“There are more vacancies, but mainly for people with acquired disabilities, for example due to injuries. Such people also adapt better in the workplace and require less accompanying assistance,” says an employment consultant for people with disabilities from a Siberian NGO, who requested anonymity.
For people with disabilities since childhood, there are still very few offers, and they are not diverse, the interlocutor believes: “There are few vacancies available for people with a low threshold – with primary and secondary mental disabilities. People with hearing disabilities are mainly invited to work as cleaners. It is difficult to find work for people with cerebral palsy, in particular for wheelchair users. Offices are not equipped to take into account the mobility of such people, and remote online jobs with simple tasks are simply not on the market.”
Not all employers are ready to create special conditions for employees with disabilities
Despite the fact that employers are more willing than before to consider candidates with disabilities, not all take into account the physical characteristics of such applicants.
“We often come across the fact that vacancies marked as ‘for people with disabilities’ do not actually take into account the characteristics of the candidates, maintaining the volume of work and tasks as for people without health problems,” says an employment consultant from the Siberian NPO.
44-year-old Artyom Amelyushkin from St. Petersburg is trying to find work in thematic groups – but so far without success. He said that all his life he worked as a mechanic and repaired machines at food industry enterprises. 10 years ago, according to him, as a result of a stroke he became disabled group 2 and since then he has been “shabby”. Despite the fact that blue-collar jobs are among the most in demand in Russia, men cannot find full-time employment. Employers willingly invite him for interviews, but when they begin to delve into the specifics of the working conditions of people with disabilities, they refuse to hire him.
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2024-04-30 08:25:56