But the industry is facing a shortage of manpower as the full mobilization of Russia’s economy for war exacerbates a longstanding demographic crunch.
“Staff shortages have affected even the wealthy industries,” said Alexei Zakharov, president of online recruiter Superjob.ru. “The oil and gas sector can afford to attract employees with higher salaries, but the state competes by offering military contracts.” “Competition with salaries in the armed forces and military industrial complex has certainly had an impact” on workforce availability for the Russian oil and gas industry, said Dmitry Kasatkin, a partner at Moscow-based Kasatkin Consulting.
The share of employees under 30 years in the Russian labor market dropped to 14.9 percent in 2022, the lowest since early 1990, according to estimates of audit and consulting firm FinExpertiza.