Russia to import one million Indian workers to fill labour gaps

Russia is planning to bring in up to one million skilled workers from India by the end of this year to tackle a severe labour shortage in its highly industrialised regions, according to a top business leader.Andrey Besedin, head of the Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the initiative aims to fill gaps in the workforce, particularly in the Sverdlovsk region, which is home to Russia’s heavy industry and defence manufacturing sector. The region includes major enterprises such as Uralmash and Uralvagonzavod, the producer of the T-90 series tanks.
"As far as I know, by the end of the year, 1 million specialists from India will come to Russia, including the Sverdlovsk region. A new Consulate General is opening in Yekaterinburg, which will deal with these issues," Besedin said.
Besedin highlighted that the shortage has intensified due to several factors, including workers being deployed in the military operation in Ukraine and a lack of interest among younger generations to work in factories. This has impacted the ability of industrial enterprises to scale up production to meet growing demand.He noted that while workers from countries such as Sri Lanka and North Korea are also being considered, India remains the primary source for skilled labour.
According to information,Indian workers have already begun joining Russian enterprises since 2024. For instance, employees were recruited for Kaliningrad's fish processing industry amid an acute labour 
Russia’s Ministry of Labour estimates that the country could face a workforce shortage of 3.1 million people by 2030. To mitigate this, the ministry plans to increase the quota for hiring qualified foreign workers in 2025 by 1.5 times to around 230,000. In 2024, Russian industrial enterprises employed approximately 47,000 qualified migrants from non-CIS countries.Additionally, the Ministry of Economic Development has called for diversifying the sources of foreign labour. However, authorities have recently tightened migration laws following the Crocus City Hall terror attack in March last year, raising the challenge of balancing security with labour demands