Labour migration in the border region according to online recruitment data (based on the materials of Amur Region)

Abstract

Amur Region (also named Amur Oblast) is a border region of Russia, characterized by socio-economic disadvantages (low standard of living, high prices) and unfavorable climatic conditions in part of the territory. Major projects in the field of construction, transportation, industrial production, fuel, and energy are being implemented in this region: the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the Amur Gas Processing Plant, etc. Territories of accelerated socioeconomic development (the Russian acronym is TOR) are being created. The regional government is making efforts to increase the investment attractiveness of the region, which is of interest to the business communities of neighboring countries. We formulate the portrait of a typical potential migrant worker who is ready to relocate to work in the Amur Region. According to the data of Internet recruitment, we show that the migration inflow prevails for the purpose of rotational basis (temporary) work. We identify the most significant donor regions, popular industries, and median salary expectations of potential migrant workers. We pay attention to the fact that the salaries of rotational basis workers are, on average, noticeably higher than the salaries of the local population: it becomes an additional factor of social tension. The incomes of rotational basis workers increase the values of regional average salaries, but in reality, this money does not remain inside Amur Region. Disproportions in the labour market are one more factor in the growth of inequality in the region, which additionally provokes the outflow of the local population from the region. Accordingly, the implementation of large-scale construction and fuel and energy projects in its current form is unable to overcome negative demographic trends, because it cannot individually solve the complex problems of socio-economic development of the Russian Amur river region. Social programs, such as «Zemsky Teacher» and «Zemsky Doctor», are not of a systematic nature. Ultimately, the social sector continues to degrade and does not receive a meaningful inflow of new highly qualified specialists (doctors, teachers, scientists, etc.) from outside.