Russian companies increasingly looking to Africa to fill vacancies, media reports.

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Russian companies have exponentially increased their recruiting in Africa, the Russian state-controlled media outlet RBC reported on July 17, citing industry data. Amid the combined impacts of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine and the subsequent exodus of hundreds of thousands of working-age men, as well as preexisting factors, including Covid-19 mortality and an aging population, labor shortage has become an increasing issue in Russia. The data analyzed by RBC indicated that seven of the 10 countries with the highest increase in vacancies posted by Russian companies were in Africa.

In Kenya, the country with the largest growth in Russian vacancies, the figure increased from just 161 in the first half of 2023 to almost 6,500 in the first half of 2024. Beyond Africa, Albania, Belgium, and Pakistan also saw an increase in Russian job listings. At the same time, Russia's neighbors Kazakhstan and Belarus still formed the bulk of job postings in foreign countries.

While the most sought-after spheres for foreign workers have largely remained the same--IT, customer service, marketing, and other white-collar jobs, construction and agriculture have also increased in recent years, RBC said. Russia has long been a destination for migrant workers from Central Asia, who often do manual labor or other blue-collar work, but as the work is typically informal, it is unclear if RBC included this data in their analysis. The bulk of foreign workers who entered Russia in 2024 came from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, in line with previous years.

Foreigners have also been increasingly sought after to join Russia's military fighting in Ukraine. Sometimes, they are recruited directly, but there have also been numerous reports of foreigners being duped by false job listings and then forced to join the military upon arrival in Russia.

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