Abstract

Millions of international migrants are living in Russia today. This paper, based on Rosstat’s “Selective Observation of Migrant Labor” survey conducted in 2019, provides an econometric comparative analysis of the labor market situation for migrants arriving to Russia since 1992 vs. the local population. The migrants’ situation is compared by multiple indicators, depending on the duration of their residence in Russia – less than one year; one to five years; 5 years or more. It is demonstrated that the migration has no statistically significant effect on the availability of paid employment. At the same time, the sectoral structure of employment, as well as the structure of employment in terms of occupational groups, show significant differences depending on the period of migrants’ stay in Russia. Recent migrants, living in Russia for less than 5 years, are significantly more likely to work in construction and trade, and much less likely to go into healthcare, education, or public administration, compared to those who have been living in Russia for more than 5 years. At the same time, old-timer migrants are much more likely to be middle or top-level specialists, or to hold managerial positions. The most notable differences between the situations of recent and old-timer migrants, as well as the locals, can be observed in labor relations between the employee and the employer. All other things being equal, recent migrants are significantly more likely to have no formal employment contract, as opposed to old-timer migrants or the locals. The longer the migrants stay in Russia, the more they adapt to the Russian labor market, and with a sufficiently long period of residence, the labor market shows almost no difference between the situations of migrants and the locals