This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org. License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l. ------------------------ Ukraine war: After Western firms left Russia, workers’ futures are uncertain By: [] Date: 2022-05 Until 24 February, it was hard to imagine life in Russia without McDonalds, IKEA furniture or iPhones. International companies supplied the vast majority of the country’s non-food items, and provided around two million jobs. This is because no matter how hostile the Kremlin’s relations with the Western world, the Russian Federation was, until recently, considered a relatively attractive location for international investors. Since the 1990s, foreign companies have actively settled in the country. In addition to a large consumer market, they have enjoyed comparatively low taxes and a cheap, relatively skilled labour force that was not prone to mobilisation or strikes. Their presence was especially noticeable in Russia’s automotive industry, as well as in the production of household appliances, the food, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, trade and catering. Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now The invasion of Ukraine changed everything. In the three months since, roughly 1,000 foreign firms have curtailed or sold off at least some, if not all, of their activities in Russia as sanctions hit the country. As a result, between 250,000 and 600,000 people risk losing their jobs. The latter figure is comparable to the total number of people who are officially registered as unemployed in the country. Most employees of foreign companies have not yet actually lost their jobs – at least not formally. This is why Russia’s official statistics are yet to register what is undoubtedly a catastrophic event for the country’s labour market, leading to conflicting estimates. Downsizing is a time-consuming process in Russia, and some firms are instead waiting to see how the invasion of Ukraine will play out. As they are not in a hurry to make dismissals, employees are being put on ‘idle time’ (forced leave for two-thirds of regular salary) or given a part-time work week. We spoke with Russian employees of foreign companies to understand what the future holds for them and what they think about the war. Their names have been changed to protect their identities. What do workers lose? Although international corporations operating in Russia have often been accused of double standards and exploiting cheap labour, their employees were still considered – and considered themselves – lucky to have their jobs. Arseniy*, a 26-year-old mechanical engineer for a Swedish engineering corporation in Russia, said: “Any foreign company provides better social assistance than a Russian one. “[Medical] insurance, additional payments, bonuses, gifts for children, compensation for sports, online services, books – all this is scarce or absent in Russian companies.” He added that salaries were also often considerably higher at international companies. [END] [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/western-firms-leave-russia-employees-future/ [2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ OpenDemocracy via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/