From the self-employed to transparency: how digitalization is changing the employment structure and protecting performers

The development of digital platforms is becoming an important driver of the Russian economy and a key factor in the transformation of the labor market. More and more citizens are choosing flexible employment formats: work on a free schedule, part-time work or combining it with studies. This trend is supported by the growing number of online services offering quick access to orders and the possibility of official registration through the self-employment mode. The law on the platform economy, prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development, should consolidate the rules of the game in this market. In addition, such services are becoming the main driver of economic and innovative growth. On June 20, the SPIEF session "Digital Platforms and Ecosystems – 2030: What will the market look like?" will discuss how technology is transforming markets and contributing to the growth of citizens' well-being.

Why Russians are increasingly working through online services

The platform economy has become one of the few official forms of flexible employment available to Russians. According to the HSE, in 2024, about 16% of citizens aged 18 to 72 worked through digital services, while almost 4 million people (about 3.5%) did this on an ongoing basis, said Oksana Sinyavskaya, deputy director of the HSE Institute for Social Policy.

The increase in employment in recent years is strongly linked to the rapid penetration of platforms into various sectors of our economy, said Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of the presidential administration, in an interview for the media. According to him, serious changes are taking place in the regional structure of unemployment. He explains this by the fact that platformization has brought the economy closer to people: if earlier a person from the hinterland could not even think about producing and selling anything in the capital, or about buying goods from the capital, now this situation has leveled off.

— Different groups of the population turn to the platforms. These are freelancers and small entrepreneurs who use digital services to find clients, as well as people who need additional earnings. In addition, such employment attracts those who have not previously participated in the labor market, such as students, senior citizens, and women on maternity leave," added Ekaterina Papchenkova, partner at the Gaidar Institute's Center for Evidence—based Expertise.

Among the most popular areas of platform work are transportation and consumer services, trade, education and care, said Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global. Most often, drivers, salesmen, hairdressers, makeup artists, babysitters, tutors, accountants, realtors, and even rental homeowners work through the platforms, she listed. A typical user of the platforms is a 30-50—year-old man living in a large city, the expert noted.

The flexibility and speed of performers' interaction with platforms and users help them quickly adjust to changes in the market and set new trends, Yandex Taxi noted. Thanks to their own solutions and technologies, platforms enhance the transparency of performers' work by converting all interactions to an online format. They provide freedom to choose the type of activity. In 2024, the company supported more than 600,000 full-time jobs, including partners, suppliers and drivers, they added.

At the same time, this format of employment has not yet become dominant. Against the background of low official unemployment — 2.3%, according to Rosstat data for the first quarter of 2025 — most consider platforms as a source of part-time work, rather than a complete replacement for traditional employment.

What will the regulation of platform employment do?

Securing the legal status of platform-employed citizens and the platforms themselves could be a turning point in the fight against informal employment. Last year, the Ministry of Economic Development prepared a draft law "On the Platform Economy", which legally formalizes the relationship between digital services and performers — couriers, taxi drivers, freelancers and others.

The document, according to the authors, should regulate the key parameters of interaction: the obligations of the parties, the signs of civil law relations and the conditions of voluntary social insurance, according to the agency's website. If adopted, the law will enter into force in March 2026. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Energy.

This initiative can have a positive impact on both the labor market and the development of flexible employment, said Pavel Tikhonov, Avito Part-time GR Director. According to him, consolidating the legal boundaries between classical labor relations and interaction through platforms will help protect performers and eliminate unfair practices in which hiring is substituted.

Ozon also notes the trend of employees switching to online services. The company's press service noted that today many people prefer to work in a free schedule, combine several sources of income or combine employment with study - online services help in this.

However, as Ekaterina Papchenkova from the Gaidar Institute added, the draft law does not yet solve the fundamental problems of the gray market. According to her, the document regulates mainly those relations that are already formalized.

At the same time, abuse of the status of the self—employed and illegal outstaffing remain outside its scope - key channels of avoiding legal employment. Platforms have significant potential to whitewash the market through transparency and digital footprints, but this resource is still underutilized, the expert believes.

Regulating platform employment, especially its "true" segment, where the platform uses algorithms to control performers' access to orders, evaluate their work and distribute tasks, will make the market more transparent and predictable, says Oksana Sinyavskaya from the National Research University Higher School of Economics. According to her, this will help to legalize such employment, and the built-in control mechanisms from the platforms can reduce the risks of going into the shadows.

Transformation or deformation: why low unemployment in Russia is deceptive

The shortage of personnel in the labor market has contributed to wage growth, but it has a downside.

Digital platforms create opportunities to increase income through additional employment, especially for students, pensioners and other socially vulnerable categories, says Yulia Dolzhenkova, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. Obviously, this form of work will develop, and it is important that this happens within the framework of the law, the expert added. At the same time, she is confident that the development of employment through digital services will help reduce the share of shadow employment.

How many Russians work in the shadows

According to the Ministry of Labor, 9.6 million people were employed in the informal sector in 2023. However, according to the Gaidar Institute, this figure reaches 14 million, and the volume of hidden borrowed labor in 2025 will amount to 11.4 trillion rubles.

— Shadow employment includes, in particular, people who work informally, as well as employees who are attracted through gray outstaffing schemes — that is, borrowed labor that circumvents the law. At the same time, the concept of the shadow economy does not include the registration of contracts with the self—employed, if there are no signs of an employment relationship," explained Ekaterina Papchenkova from the Gaidar Institute.

According to the expert, the substitution of standard employment by civil law agreements is one of the most common saving practices for companies. Instead of registering full-time employees, employers use the services of the self-employed or resort to mediation by recruitment agencies.

Currently, according to the Federal Tax Service, a record number of self—employed people has been recorded in Russia - 13.5 million people. At the same time, of the 8.5 million active self-employed, only a third work on employment platforms, the rest are small entrepreneurs with a high degree of independence, said Vlad Fedulov, Managing Director of Avito at the SPIEF.

— A significant part of citizens deliberately remain in the shadows, not seeing the benefits of income legalization. For example, pensioners who receive cash payments are not interested in registering as self-employed: they do not want to pay taxes, but they already have access to medicine and pensions. In order for the situation to change, economic incentives are needed — staying in the gray zone should become impractical," says Yulia Dolzhenkova from the University of Finance.

To enhance transparency, the Ministry of Energy has already done a lot of work to determine which relations between platforms and the self-employed can be considered civil without the risk of their retraining into labor, Maxim Kolesnikov, the first deputy head of the department, previously noted.

What will happen to the labor market and the economy next

It is unlikely to be possible to completely eliminate shadow employment in the coming years, but its share may decrease significantly due to digitalization, the emergence of new forms of legal employment and the growing interest of citizens in official income registration, experts agree.

— To reduce the level of shadow employment, the market needs to be offered flexible, understandable and safe alternatives. Digital platforms may well become them, provided that the services themselves are transparent to the state and prevent the substitution of labor relations and abuse of the status of the self—employed. Their penetration into traditional sectors of the economy is already a noticeable trend, says Ekaterina Papchenkova from the Gaidar Institute.

According to the representative of Yandex.Taxi, the further development of the platform economy and, as a result, the growth of labor transparency will depend on the right legislative regulation.

— Digital platforms are no longer the future, but a reality that is changing the economy here and now. Their role will only grow, creating new opportunities for businesses, employees, and entire industries. But the main thing is that they can become a powerful tool for reducing shadow employment, the Association of Digital Platforms is confident.

The regulation of platform employment is only a part of the larger processes taking place in the labor market. Technologies are changing not only the format of interaction between an employee and an employer, but also the very structure of employment, emphasized Yulia Dolzhenkova from the University of Finance. New professions are emerging, while the demand for flexible, short—term forms of cooperation is increasing - according to the "on-demand" model.

However, such employment remains socially insecure and is accompanied by a number of ethical risks, such as platform restrictions and unstable work schedules. Against this background, the number of shadow employees is decreasing, as the availability of official employment is increasing, including for pensioners, she added.

According to experts, due to the shortage of personnel, the decision to index pensions for working pensioners and the emergence of new jobs, citizens have more and more opportunities to come out of the shadows. And the growth of transparent employment models, including through platforms, can ensure not only economic stability in the future, but also a higher quality of working life.

"Our research has shown that platforms also create opportunities to expand the economic activity of people who are traditionally less represented in the standard labor market: students, women with young children, the disabled, pre—retirees and pensioners," added Oksana Sinyavskaya from the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Advance payment: record salary growth recorded in Russia

In which industries are incomes increasing the most?

Experts point out that platform solutions are transforming not only the labor market, but also the economy as a whole. By reducing transaction costs, quickly connecting supply and demand, and increasing access to services and jobs, digital services increase economic efficiency. They promote the involvement of previously inactive people in production processes and stimulate the development of small businesses. In addition, platforms help businesses scale faster and enter new markets without significant investments in infrastructure.

— Platformization will stimulate economic growth. Thanks to this process, other industries, such as banks, will have to move forward, because platforms will take them out of their comfort zone. Economic growth is not a game where everyone wins. This is always a difficult and painful procedure. To remain competitive, companies will either have to come up with fundamentally new products, or produce the same ones, but twice as large, cheaper and with fewer employees," Maxim Oreshkin emphasized in an interview with the media.

The platform economy has become one of the key drivers of economic and innovative growth. According to HSE estimates, in 2023, the total contribution of Yandex Taxi alone amounted to about 0.5% of GDP, said a company representative. He added: for every ruble earned by the service, drivers received about 3.1–3.5 rubles of income — this underlines the importance of platforms not only for the labor market, but also for the economy as a whole. The contribution of the service's part-timers alone is estimated at 0.05% of GDP.

More information about how digital platforms are becoming increasingly important in the economy, transforming markets, how they will change in the future and how much they will affect society will be discussed on June 20 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as part of the session "Digital Platforms and Ecosystems – 2030: what will the market be like?".