Almost 150,000 Russian workers were dismissed or have forced vacations after the invasion of Ukraine

Some 50,000 Russian workers have lost their jobs so far and another 98,000 are in a period of forced holidays due to the impact of Western sanctions and the withdrawal of international companies from the Russian market, the Ministry of Employment and Social Protection said Wednesday.

“According to current operational data, 98,000 workers are inactive (or on forced leave). Speaking in absolute terms, this is 2.5 times more than on March 1,” said the deputy minister of this portfolio, Andrei Pudov, at a meeting in the State Duma (Lower House), according to the official agency TASS.

“As for the announced figures of dismissals, there are about 50,000 people, while there have clearly been no mass layoffs,” he said.

The mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, said on Tuesday that some 200,000 people may lose their jobs in the capital due to the closure of foreign companies.

At the end of March, he said that around 300 international companies ceased their activity in Moscow.

Pudov alleged that, despite layoffs, forced vacations and part-time jobs, in early spring “more than 2.5 million people were hired.”

“Today, some 670,000 citizens are registered in employment centers, while there are 1.9 million jobs in the vacant database,” he added.

On the other hand, according to an estimate at the end of March, up to 70,000 computer scientists, frightened by the sudden freezing of the business and political climate, have left Russia since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Many more are expected to follow.

(With information from EFE)

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