The head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov spoke about the risks of self-employment, the shortage of personnel and how employers are trying to eliminate it. RB.RU provides the main interview Minister of Vedomosti.
“Self-employment pulls citizens out of labor relations”: the main thing from the interview with the head of the Ministry of Labor
Author: Bogdan Muzychenko
About the popularity of self-employment and its risks
Now young people are “more often looking for themselves” in the status of self-employed, because “they want to maintain more freedom in terms of schedule and volume of work,” Kotyakov shared his opinion. According to him, self-employment “today really pulls citizens away from their usual labor relations.”
“The bar of 10 million people (self-employed) was recently exceeded, and for every fourth person this is the only source of income,” the head of the Ministry of Labor told Vedomosti.
At the same time, Kotyakov claims that this type of employment has risks, including pension risks. Self-employed people can join voluntary pension insurance, but this option “is not very popular,” the minister told the newspaper. In his opinion, “people do not realize the risks they will face in a few decades.”
The level of income of the self-employed is also of concern, the head of the Ministry of Labor noted. According to him, “a third of the self-employed today receive zero income, another part does not even receive the minimum wage per month (19.2 thousand rubles in 2024). At the same time, Kotyakov is sure that we are not necessarily talking about shadow income: “This may be an unsuccessful attempt to start your own business.”
About the personnel shortage and its impact on salaries
According to Kotyakov, the biggest shortage now is of blue-collar workers: milling cutters, welders and mechanics. They also have the highest dynamics of salaries, the minister noted and added that the demand is also growing for highly qualified workers – primarily engineers.
According to the head of the Ministry of Labor, in 2030 the additional need for personnel will be 2.4 million people compared to the base year 2022: “The most specialists will be needed in manufacturing – plus almost 540 thousand jobs. In the field of transportation and storage – over 260 thousand, in healthcare and social services – more than 270 thousand, science and IT in total will create almost 170 thousand more jobs.”
Due to increased personnel demand, salaries are rising, although the increase is uneven, the minister told Vedomosti: “There are industries in which salaries have increased by 10% or even 20%, and there are positions for which the salary supply remains virtually unchanged.”
In addition to increased salaries, Kotyakov continues, employers often offer employees an expanded social package. We are talking about “separate tracks to support employees with many children” and additional guarantees “in terms of medical care,” the head of the Ministry of Labor told the newspaper.
On the flow of office employees to other areas
Today, the number of office workers is “gradually decreasing,” including because their salaries “are not growing at the same rate as in the real sector,” Kotyakov explained. In his opinion, in particular, there are fewer economists and lawyers.
At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Labor emphasized that the flow of personnel “does not happen overnight”: “People will not be able to leave the walls of the office and immediately go to work as a welder or turner.”
On relaxations in the Labor Code
According to Kotyakov, “trade unions and employers agree that today there are norms in the Labor Code that need updating.” For example, the Labor Code contains a requirement that an employee can take a second job only part-time.
“If working conditions allow it, then perhaps this is not an aspect that we should strictly control and prevent employment opportunities,” the minister told Vedomosti.
Cover photo:
Source: rb.ru
