A real threat of a decline in Russia’s educational potential has appeared, in part as a
consequence of the flight of qualified personnel from the country.
The situation in the employment arena has reached a dangerous level, as
characterized by the increase in the overall level of unemployment, its preservation in latent
forms, and the increase in the scale of chronic unemployment. The passive state policy on the
labor market in conjunction with a low and declining mobility of the population is inevitably
giving rise to social conflicts.
Poverty has become common and widespread, embracing practically one third of the
country’s population. The Russian paradox is that the poor consist of not only those unable to
work and the unemployed, but even employed people, predominantly those who are paid
from the state budget.
Wages do not play the role of one of the main regulators of the labor market,
inasmuch as the low level of wages does not correspond to the real value of the workforce,
and the growth rate lags behind the change in prices for goods and services by multiples.