Employment

Most of the population of the Rostov Region is employed:

• in industry – 25.5%,
• in agriculture – 12,5%,
• in services – 27%, and
• in transportation and communications – 7.8%.

Over the last several years the regional job market (about 500 thousand people every year) has experienced some qualitative changes in regards to the increase in demand for a highly-qualified workforce and a more active migration of employees between different industry branches. Structural differences between supply and demand in the job market have led to the existence of a great number of unemployed people. Today, 259.8 thousand people, or 12.2% of the economically active population, have no jobs and are officially classified as unemployed, according to the methodology of the Ministry of Labor.

The placement service of the Rostov Region includes 15 centers in cities and towns, three inter-territorial offices and 33 district placement centers, all of which are state administrative institutions. Every placement center is equipped with modern computers with access to the Internet. The human resources potential of the placement service is about 1000 highly-qualified specialists. 

In 2000, with the formation of the Southern Federal Unit, the Department of the Federal State Placement Service in Rostov Region was given the analytical, information and control functions in the questions regarding employment and the responsibility for insuring effective cooperation with the President’s representative in the Southern Federal Unit.

In order to make the regulation of the job market in the region effective, the efforts of administrative bodies on all levels, the placement service, the professional unions, various public institutions and the employers were united.

As a result of this employment policy, Rostov Region now enjoys one of the lowest registered unemployment levels in Russia – 1.1% of the economically active population (the general level in Russia is 1.8%) – and a shorter average length of time spent looking for a new job by the employed – 4.3 months (in Russia the average length is more than six months). More than 70% of the people looking for employment (altogether about 150 thousand people every year) get new jobs with the help of the placement service. The accumulative experience of cooperation between all the stakeholders has made it possible to avoid critical situations in the job market in connection with the people who were massively laid off in the coal industry.