OREANDA-NEWS  A reduction in the workforce threatens the Russian economy. A shortage of migrants could cut potential GDP growth by 25 basis points annually over ten years.

Experts call the situation for the Russian economy alarming even amid rising oil prices. With a shortage of migrants, businesses, especially construction companies, were forced to raise wages to fill jobs. Despite this, there is still a shortage of workers on construction sites. Mass vaccination could restore the flow of migrants, but many Central Asian countries still lack access to vaccines.

Earlier it was reported that Russian companies faced a critical shortage of labor for seasonal work in the field. They asked the authorities to open the border to migrants as an exception. The regions estimated the labor shortage at 38.2 thousand people.

In December 2020, Vladimir Putin proposed to discuss with a number of countries the issue of importing migrants to Russia. The measure was supposed to touch objects where the problem of the shortage of workers was especially acute.