Echoes from the brainstorming sessions

Deputy Russian Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov

The current global financial crisis, which has been negatively influencing the Russian stock market and financial sector, could not help, but impact equally negatively on the general situations in the domestic economy and, consequently, on both industrial and regional labor markets. Indeed, the crisis is not limited only to the financial sector, as there have been massive layoffs from other key industrial sectors. In some other cases, companies have resorted to shorter working-hour schedules or temporarily terminated production altogether, thus forcing workers into mandatory vacations without wages. These processes are accompanied by significant reductions in citizens’ real incomes, thus lowering their purchasing powers.

The government has adopted a series of measures aimed at guaranteeing the citizens’ social welfare. But it is now extremely important for all social partners, not only the federal government, but also the regional authorities, as well as employers and labor unions, to be exceptionally focused in their searches for ways to realistically decrease the rising tensions on our labor market. It is only in this way that the financial aid already allocated to the regions from the federal budget will be really effective.