WMRC Daily Analysis
October 31

Guest workers from Uzbekistan are flocking to the Siberian cities of Tyumen, Novosibirsk and Tomsk, as well as the Moscow region, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in central Russia, according to a Eurasianet report. This type of temporary employment is often opposed by local authorities, which would prefer factories to hire local workers, but favoured by plant owners because, they say, Uzbeks can be paid less, are more punctual than Russian workers and stay sober. There are currently around 3m job vacancies in Russia and many of these are situated in the more remote regions of the country, such as Siberia, which could see massive influxes of 'guest workers' or permanent immigrants over the next few years.

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