Russian employers continue to show interest in finding employees in Tajikistan. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Labor, Migration and Employment of Tajikistan Shahnoza Nodiri to the TASS news agency.
What kind of personnel does a Russian employer need?
According to her, Russian employers, mainly according to the procedure of organized recruitment, are looking for builders and warehouse employees for marketplaces.
“… In the first place, after all, the construction sector. Storekeepers, logistics staff, and handymen are already coming out in second place. Then there is the service sector, then industrial enterprises and agriculture,” – said Nodiri.
According to her, there were no requests to find highly qualified employees, for example, doctors and engineers.
Shahnoza Nodiri also noted that in the republic there were cases when an employer recruited the necessary number of employees in Tajikistan, but after that they could not work in Russia.
“For example, they did not pass the test of knowledge of the Russian language, legislation and history in the Russian Federation. There are a lot of such nuances that we face. And as a result, all this affects the desire of our citizens to travel to Russia,” – said Nodiri.
According to her, there is a large shortage of personnel in the Russian market due to many factors.
“The deficit was affected not only by changes in migration legislation, but also by the established practice of preventing Tajik citizens from entering Russia and the daily return of a large number of citizens by plane to Tajikistan,” – the deputy minister said.
At the same time, Nodiri stressed that citizens who are selected in the order of recruitment are checked for entry into the Russian Federation and fingerprinted at the representative office of the passport and visa service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Tajikistan, opened in May 2024.
According to her, the Ministry of Labor of the Republic conducts information campaigns in all regions of Tajikistan to attract workers to those vacancies that are sent by Russian employers, and also tell Tajiks about changes in the migration legislation of the Russian Federation.
“During the meetings, the ministry's employees explain the need to comply with the law and respect the traditions and culture of the country where they are going,” – said Nodiri.
The organized recruitment of employees in Tajikistan for temporary employment in Russia is carried out within the framework of an intergovernmental agreement. The procedure provides that the Russian employer conducts an interview with a potential employee in advance, concludes an employment contract, guarantees him wages, as well as other social guarantees, such as accommodation, meals, flight payment and a labor patent. The employee, in turn, undertakes to comply with the terms of the employment contract and the legislation of the host country.
About the problems of the organizational set
Shahnoza Nodiri named “low salaries and the situation related to recent events” as the main problems for organized recruitment.
As the Deputy minister pointed out, “recent events” mean the tightening of migration legislation in Russia after the terrorist attack at the “Crocus City Hall” concert hall.
“With organized recruitment, employees are provided with housing, meals, flights and the cost of a labor patent. The Ministry of Labor of Tajikistan conducts explanatory work with citizens, explaining the advantages of organized recruitment, but people trust social networks and their friends more,” – said the deputy head of the Ministry of Labor, noting that in this way spontaneous labor migration continues, although its reduction is noted.
Nodiri believes that in order to attract citizens to the recruitment process, it is necessary to think over additional incentives that would motivate migrant workers.
“The demand for the Russian market remains very high, and this is evidenced by the relevant analysis of Russian demography institutes, – she said. – The organizational set, being a mechanism for orderly, legal and protected migration, meets the interests of both the country of departure and the country of reception. And the receiving country, in order to promote the initiatives of the organization, should, nevertheless, provide certain motivations and incentives so that citizens are motivated and focused on working under this mechanism”.
Migrants began to travel to Russia less often
The Ministry states, according to the results of the first half of 2024, a 15% decrease in the number of people traveling to work in Russia was recorded. In the first six months, 387 thousand people left Tajikistan for Russia, which is 62.3 thousand less than in the same period last year.
Nodiri stressed that legislative restrictions have always existed and apply not only to citizens of Tajikistan, but also to all countries with visa-free entry to the Russian Federation.
“If Tajik migrant workers are legally sent to Russia to work, the risk of being expelled will decrease significantly. Legal employment and compliance with all established rules and requirements allow migrants to work in Russia without the threat of deportation and administrative penalties,” – she said.
Recall that in the first six months of 2024, more than 17 thousand Tajik citizens were expelled from the Russian Federation for violations of laws, which is more than in the whole of 2023.
The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Labor noted that they are sympathetic to changes in Russian migration legislation and support “restoring order” in this area. At the same time, according to her, thoughtful actions are needed so that honest migrant workers do not suffer.
“I fully understand and support the need to bring full order to the migration sphere in Russia itself. We understand that many people, not knowing Russian, somehow bought these certificates (in Russia), it was all there. But we need to do it all in a thoughtful way,” – said Shahnoza Nodiri.
In Russia, in 2024, amendments to migration legislation were adopted, in particular, a migration regime was introduced for the expulsion of foreigners who are in the Russian Federation without legal grounds. The period of stay of foreigners in the Russian Federation who came to the country without a visa was also reduced to 90 days during the year. Previously, they could stay in Russia for 90 days during six months.
Shahnoza Nodiri noted that citizens who legally work in Russia and comply with all legal norms should not experience difficulties from the changes.
“Normal people who really came to work, who work honestly on the basis of patents, suffer,” – said the deputy head of the ministry.
According to her, statistics received by the Ministry of Labor of Tajikistan show that the number of valid patents for migrant workers in Russia is decreasing.
“If last year there were 726 thousand patents, now there are 644 thousand. Many, many have left,” – she said.
Migrants contribute to the economies of both countries
Nodiri stated that labor migration meets not only the interests of the country of origin, that is, Tajikistan in the form of money transfers, but to a greater extent the interests of the country where the migrant worker works.
“In this direction, we have established good bilateral cooperation with the authorized bodies of Russia – the Ministry of Labor, Rostrud, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we are working in this direction, and the work will continue,” – she said.
At the same time, the deputy minister clarified that over 60% of migrant workers from Tajikistan work in Moscow and the Moscow region, where the patent amount is 7.5 thousand rubles.
“If we calculate the total amount, very large sums are received monthly to the budget of Moscow and the Moscow region,” – she noted.
At the same time, the interlocutor of TASS explained that migrant workers not only send money home, but also spend their earnings on the territory of the Russian Federation – rental housing, food, clothing, mobile communication services and others.
But the most important thing, in her opinion, is that the product of the labor activity of migrant workers remains on the territory of the Russian Federation, “for example, if we talk about construction, these are objects erected by the hands of our citizens, and it is always necessary to talk about this”.
