Almost 5 million people in Russia have lost wages amid the pandemic

A study on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the incomes of Russians was conducted by the audit and consulting network FinExpertiza. The experts used Rosstat data for April, May and June of the current year on enterprises with a staff of more than 15 people as a basis for calculations.

Izvestia notes that on the basis of the data obtained, it can be concluded that keeping a job in the midst of a pandemic does not mean insuring oneself against lower incomes: millions of Russians are faced with wage cuts, unpaid vacations or the introduction of downtime at enterprises.

“According to the network, most of the employed Russians (2.4 million) lost part of their income due to the fact that they were taking leave without pay at that time”, - RBC reports.

Another 1.23 million people worked part-time, of which 85 thousand were initiated by the employer. 948 thousand employees were idle.

According to experts, in total, 6.2% of the total workforce in Russia faced a decrease in wages. The highest level of underemployment in the second quarter was recorded in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, where it rose to 15%. In second place was the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (12.6%), in third - Yamalo-Nenetsky (9.3%).

Since mid-September, a noticeable rise in the incidence of coronavirus has begun in Russia in almost all regions. In this regard, the authorities thought about introducing a second quarantine. According to economists, for many enterprises in the country, such a decision could be fatal. According to 77% of Russian entrepreneurs, the chances of survival of their companies in the event of the reintroduction of the self-isolation regime are 50% or less. Businessmen say that the main danger of introducing a lockdown is a sharp drop in demand for goods and services.