“How many people of American and European origin do you estimate have found work in Russia at the present time? I’m thinking mainly of companies from Moscow, St. Petersburg and the big oblast centres; or are there already cases of foreigners setting off into the back of beyond?”
“Most foreigners come to Moscow and St. Petersburg, of course. According to the Federal Migration Service of Russia, the capital alone accounts for 71% of the quotas allocated for highly qualified foreigners. However, there has been a demand for high-level foreign specialists in the regions for several years now. Agriculture, metallurgy and engineering, the food and mining industries – at a certain stage, any more or less well developing production company aiming for profit comes up against the need to bring in new processes, to install up-to-date technology and ideas, to plan accurately and to forecast results. There are not many managers with experience in managing a large-scale production facility in the Russian market. And only a handful of those taken on do well. The market knows who they are and they are in great demand. Sometimes it is simpler and even more beneficial (“cheaper” would not be the right word here) for a regional company to invite a Western manager in than to compete for a Russian manager.
If the Russian economy develops steadily, we shall see this situation persist for the next ten years or so. In the regions, these industries have lagged behind too far and for too long. The need to catch up is urgent, and our own personnel resources will not have time to grow to meet the demand”.
The HeadHunter group of companies has been working in the Internet recruitment market since 2000. At the present time, the hh.ru site is one of the best online resources for finding work and taking on personnel. The HeadHunter business model is based on the sale of information from a database of CVs. Most of the site’s search clients are middle and top managers.
“Has the economic crisis influenced the situation in any way?”
“The crisis has become a kind of filter. In Russia fifteen years ago, virtually all sectors of the economy required rapid development, and that meant high quality management too. The market grew more rapidly than specialists could gain experience. In this situation, it became a matter of necessity to invite expatriates into Russia, otherwise there would have been no-one from whom to learn. They were paid huge salaries and their social security packages were amazingly generous. It was normal at that time for companies to pay foreigners considerably more than they paid Russian specialists. In spite of the fact that by the time the crisis occurred, our own personnel reserves had already been formed in many sectors of the economy – finance, consulting, real estate – Russian companies continued to invite expatriates and often overpaid them. It was also a sort of fashionable status symbol. Having expatriates in a company was a way of showing how well the business was doing.
The crisis made it necessary to take costs into account and to reduce them as far as possible. Those who were essential to the development of the business stayed in place.
The crisis made it necessary to take costs into account and to reduce them as far as possible. Those who were really essential to the development of the business stayed in place. But those whose posts could be filled by Russian colleagues, and for less money, were sent home”.
“What if we compare competition in the labour market in the West and in Russia? In Russian conditions, is it easier or harder for a foreigner to compete for a highly-paid job, say the position of a top manager? Is the career ladder here longer or shorter?”
“In Russia, up to now, it has been possible to take a high-speed elevator to move up in one’s career, rather than moving logically and consistently up the promotion ladder. A career path which would take 25 years in Germany can be covered in Russia in five. And we also have more faith in young managers than they do in Europe. Furthermore, salary offers for management positions in Russia are fully comparable with such offers in the West, and in most fields even better. From this point of view, Russia is fully competitive with other countries for good-quality personnel. By the way, according to a study which we carried out jointly with The Network, a worldwide association of the leading job sites, the main factors attracting foreigners to Russia are high salaries (70% of respondents) and the possibility of rapid promotion (58%).”
Foreigners are attracted to Russia by high salaries and the possibility of rapid promotion.
“How much is a Western specialist usually paid in Russian companies?”
“In the job vacancies posted on hh.ru today, we do not see any particular difference between the salaries offered to Russians and foreigners for similar positions. Differences usually only concern the living conditions which the employer usually provides for top managers.”
“These are the positive aspects of finding employment. But are there negative ones? What do Western specialists thinking of taking up employment in Russia most dislike or fear?”
“One expatriate I know said jokingly that foreigners are afraid of three words all beginning with K in Russian: the climate, crime, and the KGB. Every joke, they say, holds a grain of truth. In this case, it is that among the factors which frighten foreigners in Russia, those named most frequently are the bad weather, the shady side of the economy, differences in mentality and the lack of legal and social protection.”
Foreigners are frightened by the bad weather, the shady side of the economy, differences in mentality and the lack of legal protection.
“How easily do foreign specialists adapt to the specific conditions of Russian life, and what changes are possible in this field after Russia’s accession to the WTO?”
“I don’t think these things are connected in any way. From my observations, adaptation and how successful it is depends 99% on the character of the person concerned, and only 1% on external factors. Some succeed in accepting and liking our country, some don’t”.
“How long does it usually take to find a Western specialist?”
“Obtaining permission usually takes from one week to three months, depending on whether the company has a quota for foreigners, whether it is the first time it has employed any, and so on. But what takes place before that – selection, interviews, negotiations, agreeing on terms – greatly depends on what sort of specialist the company is looking for. It’s hard to give average figures, it could be a month or a year…”
The Russian mentality, particularly in the regions, is a separate theme. You have to learn to work with this.
“How often, having worked in Russia, do Western Europeans and Americans think about having their own business here?”
“In comparison with other countries, quite rarely. The same old differences of opinion have their effect: about the lack of regulation and transparency in business and its shady sides. Plus the Russian mentality – this is a theme for a separate conversation, particularly if we want to discuss the regions and small towns. You have to learn to work with this. I know of cases in which such an initiative did not succeed and ended in bitter disappointment. However, there are also other stories – of those who succeed in understanding their own fellow-workers and partners, and learn to interact efficiently with them, and achieve great success. It has happened historically that foreigners in Russia are met with something like awe, with a belief that everything that comes from the West, including ideas, is better than the Russian equivalent. And foreigners are trusted, their honesty is relied on, sometimes more than is the case with fellow Russians”.
“What should be done by a Frenchman or Italian, Englishman or American, who is thinking of taking a job in Russia?”
He should put his CV on the leading Russian job websites, such as ours at hh.ru. It is better to do this in English, even if your native language is something else. A copy of it in Russian would do no harm, and might even increase the chances that you would be found; however, in that case, they would most likely expect you to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of Russian.
It is also possible to track down vacancies in Russia on leading Western websites. The human resources market is developing quite well in Russia. The headhunters of companies which employ Western specialists are usually quite familiar with the infrastructure of the Western market, and are happy to use not only Russian websites to select employees, but Western ones too”.