The Russian government has expanded the program of business subsidies for the employment of unemployed citizens.

This was announced on Tuesday, June 14, by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a meeting with his deputies.

Now the initiative will be able to take advantage of more people, said the head of the Cabinet.

In total, according to him, this measure should support tens of thousands of people.

“Among them are those who lost their jobs due to the closure of the organization or due to staff reductions, as well as employees at risk of dismissal.

The same opportunity will appear for citizens of Ukraine, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, who received refugee status in Russia," Mishustin said.

To receive state support, an employer can remotely use the Jobs in Russia portal to contact an employment center and select specialists for available vacancies.

After that, the business must send an application to the Social Insurance Fund, which deals with the distribution and payment of funds.

The amount of the subsidy is equal to three minimum wages (minimum wages), increased by the amount of insurance contributions to state non-budgetary funds and the district coefficient.

The fundraising will take place in three stages.

Enterprises will receive their first payment one month after hiring a new employee, the second after three months, and the third after six months.

“We hope that such decisions will help people keep or find a job faster, receive a stable income and, in general, better adapt to changing conditions,” Mikhail Mishustin added.

  • © Government.ru

The recruitment subsidy program in Russia started working in the spring of 2021.

Then companies began to receive funds from the state for the employment of graduates of 2020 and people who were officially registered with employment centers as unemployed.

In March 2022, the initiative was expanded to cover a number of categories of citizens under the age of 30.

Among them are graduates of colleges and universities without work experience, young people without secondary vocational or higher education, disabled people, orphans, and parents of minor children.

The program was originally designed to deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the Russian labor market.

At that moment, against the background of a number of quarantine restrictions and a decline in business activity, the decline in employment became one of the main challenges for the Russian economy.

So, at some point, the unemployment rate rose to 6.4% - for the first time since 2012.

However, a number of government initiatives, including subsidizing hiring, have helped to support businesses and quickly stabilize the employment situation.

This was told to RT by the first vice-president of the all-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia" Pavel Sigal.

“The interest of enterprises in the labor exchange and the search for employees under the program of the register of employment centers has grown.

Over time, it became obvious that the project has much more prospects than originally thought.

Business has revised the list of positions with remote work opportunities, and this gave a chance for successful employment of a wider range of citizens,” Segal explained.

work incentive

According to the latest estimates, in the spring of 2022, unemployment in Russia fell to historic lows.

Meanwhile, taking into account the Western sanctions against Moscow, the risks in the country's labor market still remain.

This was previously stated by President Vladimir Putin.

“In May, the number of officially registered unemployed not only did not increase, but even slightly decreased: the unemployment rate in April was 4%, which was the lowest value for the entire period of observation.

In today's conditions, this is a very serious achievement, but I ask you to continue to keep the situation under control, ”Putin said at a meeting on economic issues on June 7.

  • kremlin.ru

Recall that since the end of February 2022, the European Union, together with the United States and a number of other states, continue to impose new economic sanctions against Russia.

This is how the West reacts to the conduct of a military special operation in Ukraine.

Restrictions, in particular, affected the banking industry, the energy sector and trade.

Almost half of the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves (worth $300 billion) were also frozen, and many Western companies announced their withdrawal from the Russian Federation.

At the moment, the labor market in Russia has not yet felt the pressure of sanctions, but in the coming months the situation in the employment sector may begin to change.

Anastasia Uskova, CEO of the Rocket Work platform, shared this opinion in an interview with RT.

“Foreign companies are closing or suspending their activities.

At the same time, the inaccessibility of imports, the complication of settlements and logistics against the backdrop of a decline in consumer activity reduces the marginality of the business.

All this can lead to a “covid effect” for entrepreneurs, ”Uskova suggested.

Today, Russian economists predict an increase in the unemployment rate in Russia to 6.5% by the end of 2022 and a decrease in the rate to 5.9% in 2023.

This is evidenced by the results of a survey by the Central Bank.

Although payments in the amount of several minimum wages will not be able to completely solve the financial difficulties of business, the actions of the authorities should alleviate the situation in the field of employment, Anastasia Uskova believes.

“It is clear that under the current conditions, a number of jobs in the country are at risk.

However, through business subsidies, the government is trying to stimulate hiring and maintain employment.

In addition, this measure also solves another important task - it encourages employers to more actively hire refugees, many of whom now need work and help in social adaptation, ”concluded the specialist.