Pandemic and work: how the labor market has changed in one year

There is also less money, and workers are worried about the financial stability of firms.

Yelena Ivanova, Natalia Seibil

2020 was a difficult year for the working population of Russia, say labor market researchers. According to a survey conducted by the Headhunter agency and the Doctor Nearby medical company, more than half of working Russians are in a state of emotional burnout. Two-thirds strive to spend as little time as possible on work, and one in three complains about well-being. These figures coincide with the results of the study, says Maria Ignatova, the head of research and analytical projects at hh.ru:

- Every second person performs tasks automatically, every fourth thinks about changing jobs or professions. The highest stress levels are found in journalists, creative workers and doctors, as well as in the insurance and travel industries.

Pandemic and labor market

This finding is corroborated by another Randstad Employer Brand Research, conducted by the independent research group Kantar, commissioned by Randstad and ANCOR. It is rather difficult to assess the survey data that 25% plan to change their place of work by the end of the year, says Natalya Shcherbakova, Sales and Marketing Director of the ANCOR staffing group:

- It is important to note that in previous years this figure was about 30%, i.e. we observe a downward trend in this indicator. The crisis forces people to be more conservative about changing jobs, people are reluctant to change employers due to the fact that the situation on the market may deteriorate and then “the last hired person will be the first to be dismissed”. To assess whether this is a lot or a little - 25%, it is difficult to say unequivocally, everything is relative. In addition, it should be borne in mind that “wanting to change” a job does not mean changing it.

However, according to the same study, half of 25% have already moved to a new job in the past 6 months, so this figure does not seem to be just a reflection of a desire for change. 13842 people took part in the survey. By gender, age, level of education, employment and region of residence, this sample reflects the working population of Russia.

During the pandemic, 4 out of 10 people changed their employment status in one way or another, researchers say. 36% of all respondents were sent on vacation, in idle time or fired.

Many began to work more or less. Most of the layoffs due to the situation with COVID-19 fell on the less protected groups of workers: women and young people from 18 to 24 years old. This affected employee loyalty to the employer. 20% became more loyal, 34% lost confidence in him. Therefore, among those affected by the pandemic, the desire to change jobs is one and a half times higher than the market average.

- We can say that a significant part of employees planning to change employers faced a deterioration in working conditions. For example, the number of duties has increased with the same level of compensation or wages have decreased, - states Natalya Shcherbakova.

For a long ruble

According to a study by Randstad Employer Brand Research, in a new job, job seekers hope to find better pay, or more money, which is not surprising. After the increase in wages, the main thing for people became financial stability - and their own enterprises. This is followed by a pleasant working atmosphere, career growth and interesting work.

The desire to receive more money does not speak of the greed of our people and their pursuit of wealth. The reasons are more mundane. According to a survey of the largest Russian online recruiting platform hh.ru and the fintech company Dengi Vperyod, out of 3,698 respondents, one in four admitted that his salary does not cover basic needs. 4 out of 10 respondents have barely enough income for the minimum necessary for life. Only 36% of survey participants confirmed that their salary covers basic needs.

Most of the money - 62% - the respondents spend on food. A third goes to rent and mortgage payments. Utility bills are 27 %, a fifth of the earned is used to pay off loans.

Half of the respondents ( 46% ) do not have enough 20 thousand rubles until the next salary, 44% of the respondents borrow from 10 to 20 thousand rubles before payday, every tenth - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles a month.

Even working people in our country have to give up a lot: 75% do not allow themselves to travel and buy new clothes and shoes. 71% donate interesting leisure activities, 42% have no money for paid medicine and medicines. Every third person saves on education.

- In general, in the Russian Federation, the proposed salaries increased by 6% compared to 2019, or by an average of 2,500 rubles, and applicants forced to lower their salary expectations in order to increase their chances of finding a job quickly turned out to be even more modest - on average, they asked for 2350 RUB more than in 2019. Thus, the lack of money before paychecks, unfortunately, is a familiar economic reality for most Russians and remains the main factor in changing jobs, says Maria Ignatova.

Obviously, two-thirds of the country's working population has no savings at all. Community consciousness helps - the absolute majority borrows money from friends and relatives. One third draws up a credit card at a bank. Less often, workers turn to their employer for a loan against their salaries or take out loans from banks or microfinance organizations in cash.

It is clear that people cannot live with an outstretched hand, so four out of five are looking for a higher-paying job. Half do not sit still and retrain in order to find work in a new field. One in three is looking for opportunities to undergo advanced training or retraining at the current place of work. Every fifth person, mostly men, is trying to make money on investments.

- The figures obtained are frightening - every fourth Russian citizen does not have enough salary for basic needs. At the same time, due to lack of funds, people also cannot receive the additional education necessary for changing jobs, and it is not clear how to break this vicious circle. In my opinion, the development of social initiatives will help - free additional education, advanced training, assistance in changing career paths and organized work to increase the minimum basic income, - said Pavel Guzhikov, founder and CEO of the fintech company Dengi Vperyod (Money first - editor's note).

Not by bread alone

The year 2020 has made its own adjustments to the perceptions of Russians about good work. In addition to decent wages, more than half of the workers find it important to have a comfortable and well-equipped workplace, career opportunities and overtime pay. The older the workers, the more important voluntary health insurance is for them.

- In 2020, it became less important for job seekers that the employer provides corporate fitness passes, and the proportion of those who care about a comfortable office decreased, due to the self-isolation regime and the transition to telecommuting. But the share of those who are interested in flexible working hours increased - from 39% to 42%, - says Maria Ignatova.

Natalia Shcherbakova from the ANCOR staffing group adds that the employer's reputation is now playing an important role. Over 8 years of research, such a factor as the company's financial stability has become equal in importance for Russians with good wages:

- Those companies that behaved responsibly - did not cut wages, took care of the health and safety of personnel, provided conditions for comfortable work - in the end won, because got more loyal staff. This is evidenced by the figures of the study. If earlier a third of the respondents wanted to change their jobs, now it is 25%. And this change was influenced not only by the fear of being unemployed during the crisis, but also by an increase in the level of loyalty to the current employer.

How to look for a job

In the job search market, most often people find new jobs on work sites on the Internet, says Natalya Shcherbakova. In second place are good old personal connections. However, the future lies with digital job search.

- Just the main transformation of recruiting due to the pandemic and mass retirement was the transfer of the entire recruitment funnel, from the search for candidates to the placement of an offer, “digitally”. If search, responses and invitations were online long before the pandemic, then the massive translation of interviews online is the specificity of this year. In particular, at hh.ru at the beginning of May 2020, we were the first on the market to launch a video interview service, realizing that this format, due to its convenience and potential, will remain with us for a long time, - Maria Ignatova shares her impressions.

Last fall, hh.ru conducted a survey among its clients to understand how many companies use digitalization tools and automation of selection processes. It turned out that in Moscow every third employer selects personnel in this way, in Russia this figure is lower - 23% . There is no doubt in the market that all recruiting processes will be digitized. The only question is when and in what form. Education and training on adapting to a new job have been taking place online for a long time, the process of registration and accounting is also tightening up. The next step is the integration of all processes into a full cycle. The market hopes that this will help make recruiting more convenient both for the employees themselves and for the business.

However, these are, for all their importance, technical issues. The most important issue - increasing wages and disposable costs - digitalization of employment will not solve. This is a more global issue that depends on the development of the economy and the rate of its growth. This requires new framework conditions and government contribution.