Helmets off: developers don't have enough builders in million-plus cities

Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg have the largest shortage of builders, market participants and recruiting services told Izvestia. At the beginning of the second quarter of 2025, employers opened vacancies for more than 160,000 such employees across the country. More than 23,000 people are looking in Moscow, and more than 12,000 in St. Petersburg. There are especially not enough electricians, as well as welders and handymen. The shortage has developed against the background of a general shortage of personnel, an outflow of migrants and record low unemployment, experts say.

Where there are not enough personnel

At least 160,000 construction workers are missing in Russia, it follows from the data available to Izvestia from the Development-Yug company and the personnel service. hh.ru . The largest deficit is in the cities of one million people: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. There are especially not enough electricians, welders and handymen.

More than half of the new construction jobs at the beginning of the second quarter of 2025 were opened in 25 cities. In addition to the aforementioned, these are Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ufa, Krasnodar, Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Tyumen.

The leader of the rating with the largest share of vacancies from developers is Moscow. More than 23,000 vacancies have been opened there, which is 15% of the total volume. In St. Petersburg, employers are looking for more than 12 thousand people, in Yekaterinburg - almost 5 thousand, in Novosibirsk — 3.7 thousand, and in Krasnoyarsk — 3.5 thousand.

"However, we are seeing an increase in vacancies in cities with smaller populations: Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Barnaul, Izhevsk, Yaroslavl," Development-South noted.

The demand for personnel in the construction industry is observed against the background of the active implementation of infrastructure projects, says Andrey Kucherenkov, director of the "Working and Linear Professions" category of the Avito Work service.

In the first quarter of this year, construction and finishing specialists were the most in demand. Facade contractors have become the leaders in terms of vacancy growth rates. The number of offers for them increased 3.7 times year-on-year. Vacancies for tilers have tripled, for bricklayers — 2.3 times, and the demand for carpenters and foremen has almost doubled.

The work is satisfactory: 1.5 times more qualified foreigners have arrived in the Russian Federation

How much does our economy need specialists from other countries amid a shortage of personnel

The increased interest in specialists was reflected in the level of remuneration. Thus, the average salary offer for facade builders increased by 20%, to 142 thousand rubles, and for tilers — by 45%, to 166 thousand rubles per month, for bricklayers — 137.6 thousand rubles per month.

Among the engineering and technical personnel in construction this year, the most in demand are design engineers, engineers of the production and technical department, manufacturers of construction and installation works, according to the SuperJob service. Among the most sought—after positions of skilled workers are an electrician, an electric and gas welder, and a plumber. At the same time, salaries of engineering and technical personnel increased by an average of 16.2% over the year, and workers - by 14.1%.

According to the unified resource of developers, in 2024 the average salary in construction increased by 50% and reached 106 thousand rubles. In a number of specializations, the growth was up to 76%, in particular among concrete workers, bricklayers and finishers.

General trends of salaries in construction

The shortage of qualified workers was recorded not only in the housing construction segment, but also in the industrial sector, Strategy Partners, a consulting company, told Izvestia.

According to their data, 96% of companies faced delays in the construction of industrial facilities. Most often, the duration of the project was increased by 20% of the plan. Another 3% of companies were more than 50% behind schedule. At the same time, about half of the disruptions occur more often at the initial stage of construction.

Most often, the construction dates of facilities were disrupted due to unforeseen delays in the supply of materials and equipment, a shortage of machinery, as well as specialists.

At the same time, according to some services, the demand for personnel in construction, although it remains high, is gradually beginning to decline. So, according to SuperJob, in the first quarter of 2025, the number of vacancies in the industry decreased by 5%, and the number of resumes increased by 15% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

Deputy General Director of the service "Work.Alexander Veterkov, Chief Operating Officer of the SberPodbor service, estimated a 13% decrease in the number of vacancies in the first quarter.

— This is due to the general trend towards a decrease in the rate of hiring in the labor market in all industries. Today, businesses are more focused on increasing labor productivity and are less willing to expand their staff," he said.

In March, 22.8 thousand vacancies were posted in the construction industry, according to data from the analytical system for monitoring the public job market and resumes conducted by the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor of the Ministry of Labor of Russia. This is 4.3 thousand less than a year earlier. However, despite the general decrease in the number of vacancies in construction, the demand for certain professions remains high. So, in March of this year, welders, engineers, turners, foremen, foremen and crane operators became the leaders in the number of vacancies.

The industry is most often looking for installers and electricians, carpenters, plumbers, welders, tilers, painters and plasterers, Alexander Veterkov added. According to the results of the first quarter, average salary offers in the construction sector increased by 11% and amounted to 137.5 thousand rubles.

Why are there not enough employees

In large Russian cities, the issue of shortage of employees in the construction field is becoming more acute, confirmed the CEO of Vector Group (engaged in finishing and finishing works) Maxim Zhmurin.

— Firstly, most of the employees are citizens of the former CIS countries, but the tightening of migration policy makes work in the territory of the Russian Federation less attractive, - he believes. — And the unstable situation with the ruble exchange rate against other currencies affects the final salary level of workers. Since in the territory of the Russian Federation they receive salaries in rubles, and the indexation of its level is much lower than the level of inflation and the growth of the exchange rate.

In addition, the qualifications of the workforce are getting lower, Maxim Zhmurin pointed out.

— If we consider employees from CIS countries, then there are more offers for them on the private service market that are more economically beneficial to them. Thus, specialists with insufficient experience or qualifications go to specialized specialties," he noted.

Personnel cold: by 2030, an additional 600 thousand IT specialists are required in the Russian Federation

What other areas are critically short of workers

And for Russian citizens, working in this field as a whole is not particularly attractive due to the fact that the job market is replete with offers with more prestigious and highly paid jobs.

Anna Alikova, an independent HR consultant, added that specialists with experience and without bad habits are especially appreciated in the market right now.

— And good staff also overpower each other, so the competition is high, — she noted.

In addition, there is a generational shift: young people are focusing on less physically demanding and more flexible forms of employment, said Nina Shtukina, HR expert, HR Director at Miel real estate agency.

The deficit will only get worse

In the next year and a half, a further increase in the shortage of labor in the construction industry is expected, in particular highly specialized workers: electricians, locksmiths, welders, finishers, Maxim Zhmurin predicts.

"It is possible to stop this decline by creating attractive conditions for working in this sector, for example, benefits related to utilities, preferential mortgage programs, and the privileges of obtaining a residence permit," he said.

Anna Alikova shares the same opinion. She believes that in order to attract staff, it is necessary either to raise salaries, or to actively introduce automation and technology.

— But it definitely won't be solved quickly. It takes at least 5-10 years," the expert noted. — Yes, an influx of foreign workers is possible — developers are counting on this. That's why they call people from the CIS countries: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan. They are also actively attracting people from Turkey, India, and North Korea.

According to her, workers from other countries can partially close the deficit, but it still may not be enough. Especially if companies don't start raising salaries and improving conditions.

Natalia Kretova, a career consultant, believes that the situation will begin to change for the better in 2030, when those born in 2005-2010 will grow up.

Low unemployment also leads to an aggravation of staff shortages, experts added. Earlier, the Ministry of Economic Development reported that unemployment in Russia is expected to reach 2.5% per year by 2028. Now it is 2.4%.