Page 50 - RusRPTSept21

official salary on which their employers pay taxes. In 2006, this figure was 71%, according to the pollster. The survey revealed that the share of “black” wages varied by sector: in construction and trade (16% each), general labourers (14%), small businesses (9%), and service workers (8%). At the same time, 45% of the respondents were sympathetic to the payment of wages "in envelopes", while 46% of the respondents stated that they would not accept them. A third (34%) of survey participants admitted that they had received a black salary payment on at least one occasion. The falling share of black salary payments is a consequence of the radical reforms the Federal Tax Service has been through in recent years.
The growth and demand surge from earlier this year has led to a crunch on labor markets in Russia. More people are actively looking to make a change – data from Kelly Services shows a whopping 76% of employees in Moscow and St. Petersburg are planning to look for new work soon. The reasons why hint at both the scale of the labor shock and adjusted income and cost of living expectations. Following are % of respondents:
Pay is the big story here, followed by being bored. 34% of 76% is 26.6% of all employees thinking about new posts because they want better pay. Interestingly, Kelly Services' head of Russia and Eastern Europe Ekaterina Gorokhova says the current boom seen for job-seekers and firms hiring is analagous to what was seen in 2005-2006 right when oil prices really ramped up. Seeing that kind of churn on major urban labor markets despite relatively weak underlying demand data, at least for a longer period of strong growth, suggests that inflation affects the rush for higher pay. We can see this also reflected in firms creating more positions for young workers who are early career. There's a demand story, yes, but also a cost story. If labor's more scarce, it gets harder to underpay. And voila. Inflation.
50 RUSSIA Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com