Russian Regions in Interregional Labor Migration: Level of Participation, Causes and Factors

Abstract

The article analyzes statistical and sociological data on the level of participation of the subjects of the Russian Federation in interregional labor migration, its causes and factors. In the first part of the article, based on data from the Rosstat labor force survey for more than a decade (from 2011 to 2021), regional features are identified. It is shown that not all regions fit into the all-Russian trend, which is characterized by progressive growth until 2018 (with the exception of 2014); a decline in 2019, 2020 and a certain growth in 2021, which did not reach the level of 2018. The dynamics of the indicators of the last two years have been strongly influenced by the situation with the coronavirus pandemic. At the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the participation of the employed population in interregional labor migration is unstable and differentiated. In most regions, approximately every two to four years, periods of growth in the number of temporary labor migrants are replaced by their decline. About a third of the regions have high (more than 10%) and average (from 5 to 10%) levels of participation of the employed population in interregional labor migration. From these regions, the majority of all temporary labor migrants – about 70% - leave for other subjects of the Russian Federation. In the second part of the article, the author analyzes the data of sociological studies conducted in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2018, 2019. Bashkortostan belongs to the regions with a relatively stable upward dynamics of population participation in interregional labor migration and leads (after the Moscow and Leningrad regions) in the absolute number of interregional labor migrants. According to sociological data, the highest level of participation in temporary labor migration of rural residents. Based on the methodology proposed by L.L. The author identifies the factors and causes of interregional labor migration. The first include the state of the labor market, employment; income level; the level and quality of life of the population; the second – lack of jobs, low wages, limited opportunities to meet the needs in the field of social development. Employment and income, according to the author, are the key factors of temporary labor migration, which is indirectly confirmed by the results of other studies in the Republic of Bashkortostan, according to which shift migrants have a high level of dissatisfaction with these areas of life. These problems are most acute in rural areas, which causes a relatively high level of participation in temporary labor migration of rural residents.