JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s war economy leaves businesses starved of labour” – Financial Times
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“Busy armaments factories are depriving other industries of scarce workers”
“Russia’s army and … weapons factories are sucking in a growing number of workers as Moscow braces itself for a long war … leaving civilian sectors with painful labour shortages and destabilising the … economy. … [L]abour shortages have helped expose [economic] weaknesses … contradict[ing] the [Kremlin’s] rosy picture …. Putin has repeatedly pointed to … rising [GDP] as proof of … economic health and the failure of either war or … sanctions to inflict serious damage. … [E]conomists say the figures are flattered by big increases in defence spending and conceal structural problems that could be destabilising in the longer term. …”
Russia is one of a number of industrilized economy facing tight labor markets. Russia’s population problems worsen the shortages, with the Russian population both aging and shrinking.