The Dynamics of Employment and Regional Labour Market Situation in Russia in 2010–2017

Abstract

This article examines the dynamics of employment (employment level) and key indicators of regional labour markets in Russia in 2010–2017: sectoral structure (by types of organizations, including large, medium, small and micro-), unemployment, and labour migration. The aim of the study was to establish the presence or absence of regional specificity (with the allocation of types) of changes in the key characteristics of labour markets, and to assess the prevailing trends of the processes. The conclusion is made that the demographic factor had a significant impact in the increase of employment in most regions. This factor prevails over economic factors (changes in the number of jobs). Groups of regions were defined based on the causes of changes in the level of employment. Analysis of the regional sectoral structure of employment made it possible to assess it for each region of Russia, as well as to point out key trends: the growth of informal, unreported employment, the reduction of the role of small and mediumsized businesses, the increase in interregional labour migration as a result of the polarization of the situation in regional labour markets and the strengthening of national cores in the labour market (Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tyumen Oblast, with autonomous districts). The study shows the sector shifts in the regional labour markets as a whole, as well as in the sphere of small and medium-sized businesses. It is established that the transition to the American- Asian model continues in the regions. This tendency provides an increase in the share of the tertiary sector due to the reduction of agricultural and industrial employment, but this process has significantly slowed compared to the 1990s and 2000s. The dynamics of the indices of structural differences (Gatev and Ryabtsev indices) show that structural differences between the regions tend to decrease (convergence of structures).