Russia’s Labor Shortage Worsens as Central Asian Workers Stay Away
Citi Lifts Brent Outlook but Still Sees Oil Falling in 2027 Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on… The bad economic news keeps coming for the Russian economy.
An analysis of Russian government data by the business daily Vedomosti shows that the influx of Central Asian labor migrants to Russia fell by roughly 15 percent during the first half of 2026, deepening an already critical labor shortage in the country.
Official entries for work purposes by Central Asian citizens fell to 1.9 million during the first six months of this year, down from 2.3 million the previous year, according to the Vedomostireport.
A large majority of Central Asian guest workers, 1.1 million, came from Uzbekistan during H1 2026.
At a time when Russia is in desperate need of workers to fill vacancies in a wide variety of service sectors, the Kremlin has increased barriers to employment for Central Asian guest workers.
Vedomosti cited Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Russian-government affiliated FinancialUniversity, as attributing the drop in guest workers’ arrivals in part to stricter migration policies and higher costs for work permits and medical certifications.
Bureaucratic red tape is not the only cause for the decline.
Central Asian leaders, led by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, have actively tried over the past few years to steer would-be labor migrants away from Russia.
In June, for example, Mirziyoyev issued a decree creating a diplomatic position at embassies in China, France, Indonesia, the UAE, the United States, and the United Kingdom tasked with promoting both tourism and labor migration.
In 2024, the Uzbek governmentlaunched a strategyto regulate labor migration and secure higher-paying, more skilled positions for those who seek work abroad.
A key pillar of the strategy is forging official guest-worker arrangements with European Union member states.
The policy has registered some success, such as a 2024 migration and mobility partnershipagreement with Germanyto admit skilled Uzbek workers.
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