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Foreign countries won't help: St. Petersburg has started to look more often for workers from India, China and Africa
Lately, we have been hearing a lot about conflicts and disputes with migrants from Central Asia. Public protests have led to tighter controls on the entry of foreign workers from neighboring countries. Some regions have already introduced a complete ban on the hiring of foreign labor with patents in such areas as the sale of alcohol and tobacco products, street food, and public transportation. A similar plan was discussed in St. Petersburg, but legislators considered it excessive. Nevertheless, businesses in St. Petersburg have already felt the general outflow of migrants from Russia.
Citizens of neighboring countries were mostly employed in low-skilled labor, including cleaning and construction work. This helped because the workers' financial aspirations were low. Recently, experts have begun to think about whether it makes sense to attract people from distant countries to the city's enterprises. According to various estimates, they make up about 4% of foreign workers.
"It is interesting to note that St. Petersburg employers are becoming increasingly loyal to potential workers from India and China. In addition, two thirds of respondents, most of whom represent St. Petersburg companies, said they are ready to find and hire workers in these countries. We are ready to hire a large number of workers from India for construction and production work, we are considering positions of senior and middle managers, as well as employees among citizens of China," said the head of the Northwestern hh.ru company. press service. Federal District and Central Federal District Maria Buzunova.
As construction market participants note, finding a team of qualified builders in Uzbekistan or Tajikistan has become increasingly difficult due to the tightening of migration policies and the availability of alternative jobs in the delivery and taxi services sector. (country-supplier), even for good salaries. Therefore, developers periodically look abroad. However, the only successful case was the import of workers from North Korea to St. Petersburg about 10 years ago.
A representative of the construction company recalls: “They worked smoothly, did not violate anything and did not violate the deadlines,” he recalls. However, due to UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea in 2018 and 2019, the Koreans were unable to return to their homeland and will never return. However, they can still be found in the Russian Far East.
A year ago, an attempt was made to bring workers from India to St. Petersburg. The problem was my lack of knowledge of Russian. "It was assumed that they would consist of teams of 15-20 people, one of whom would speak Russian. But the Federal Migration Service did not approve this plan," said the director of the construction company.
In addition to the obvious language issues, which are especially relevant when searching for workers in Asian and African countries, other difficulties arise. Each ethnic group and each category of employees has unique characteristics. “For employees from the Middle East, difficulties often arise related to cultural barriers and communication with the diaspora, and for employees from African countries, religious issues and difficulties in accommodating newcomers in the team,” Buzunova said.
For workers from distant foreign countries, reducing the wage fund is ineffective. Their financial needs are higher than those of immigrants from the CIS countries. In addition, compatriots will want to travel to distant countries only if they are guaranteed a hostel and food, says Olga Kharina, associate professor of the Department of Oriental Studies at the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations. economy. But for employers, working with them also has its advantages. Representatives of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have flexible work schedules and are ready to work under conditions that may be less attractive to immigrants from St. Petersburg. (for example, overtime, work on weekends).