Dynamics of employment in Russia (2018 – mid-2023)

The article examines the impact of the pandemic and a special military operation on the economic sphere and labor relations in the Russian Federation. The conclusion is made that the Russian economy has successfully adapted to these phenomena. Initial forecasts about the collapse of the economy did not come true; the economic situation is stable. In addition, based on statistical data and the results of sociological research, a decrease in informal employment of Russians is stated. During the pandemic and its beginning, the number of employees working without a contract has not increased, there is an increase in standard employed Russians. There are three main reasons for this process. The first is the reduction of the labor force in Russia, which increases the demand for it and, accordingly, the improvement of labor relations, the second is the actions of the government during the pandemic, aimed primarily at helping officially employed workers and the adoption of the law on the self-employed, the third is the reduction as a result of the pandemic and a special military operation of private small and medium-sized businesses, the main places of work informally employed, reduction of the informal economy and the shadow labor market. These findings force us to reconsider our approaches to the growth of the precariat, the core of which is informally employed wage workers. The number of precarious is growing with a favorable economic situation, growth of economic initiative and non-interference of the state in the economic sphere. In the opposite situation, the number of precarious workers decreases.