Professionals in a cold climate: responses to economic transformation in Russia

Russia's attempted economic transformation has had dramatic consequences for all classes of employees, from cleaners to nuclear physicists. This paper considers the adaptation of Russia's committed professionals to their new environment. Using data from longitudinal qualitative research, it explores how far the ability of professionals to adjust to Russia's new labour market can be explained by reference to their flexibility (defined as a willingness to respond to market signals) and individual activism. The authors find that these behavioural traits are less important than the structural (dis)advantages possessed by individuals. Professionals do well when they are able to use their skills, rather than when they are forced into ‘flexibility’, while their labour market activism can only be understood in the context of the resources that facilitate it. Paradoxically, however, the stringency of structural adjustment in Russia destroyed many of the assets which could have assisted professionals’ adaptation to change.