The elderly are becoming people: pensioners are looking for work more often

Russians of retirement age began to look for work more than one and a half times more often, specialized services told Izvestia. They apply for jobs that require qualifications, as well as those that do not involve special training. Experts are confident: This is not a situational trend, but a long-term one. In addition to the obvious desire to increase their income, older people want to remain part of the professional community and socially active. They survived the "turbulence" of the 90s, were able to adapt to the new living conditions, so they are unlikely to be ready to lead a calm and measured retirement life. Therefore, employers should adapt working conditions for older employees by providing flexible working hours, VMI and volunteering opportunities.

Why are retirees more likely to look for work

Russians of retirement and pre-retirement age began to look for work much more often than last year, recruitment agencies told Izvestia. Thus, according to Avito Jobs, in the third quarter of this year, the number of applicants aged 65 and over increased by 68% compared to the same period in 2024.

"The average desired salary in this age group was 63,465 rubles per month," said Roman Gubanov, Director of Development at Avito Rabota.

The SuperJob service recalled that due to the pension reform, the age of activity in the labor market has increased. They believe that, first of all, people of retirement and pre-retirement age have a financial motive to stay in the labor market.

— The size of the state pension does not correspond to the idea of the amount necessary for life, — stated in the company.

According to her survey conducted in October 2025, Russians aged 45+ consider a pension of 50.8 thousand rubles worthy. And the average insurance pension in Russia now stands at about 24 thousand.

And Roman Gubanov noted that people of retirement age began to look for work more often, not only because they strive to maintain their usual income level.

— They want to remain socially active, feel in demand and be a part of the professional community. Therefore, many continue their work after retirement age," he said.

According to him, this trend is confirmed by a survey conducted by this recruitment agency. According to its results, 61% of Russians plan to work after retirement, while one in three intends to continue working full-time.

The greatest dynamics in the need of pensioners for work or additional earnings is in the Omsk region. There, the number of resumes from people over 65 has almost doubled — by 98%. In second place is the Nizhny Novgorod region, where the dynamics of the number of resumes increased by 96%, and the Tver region closes the top three with an increase of 92%.

In the recruitment service hh.ru Izvestia was informed that in the first eight months of 2025, the number of resumes from people of retirement and pre-retirement age (55+) increased by a third. The most noticeable increase in activity was shown by residents of Tuva, Moscow and the Kostroma region, where the number of resumes from older applicants has more than doubled.

Who do pensioners want to work for

The dynamics are related to changes in legislation that have made post-retirement work more profitable and secure, said Ilya Rusyaev, Managing Partner of Rusyaev and Partners.

Thus, since January 1, 2025, the indexation of insurance pensions for all pensioners has been resumed. Previously, there was a restriction: working pensioners did not receive an annual increase in payments.

"Now this barrier has been eliminated, and citizens who continue to work can expect to receive an increase in their pensions on a general basis," the lawyer said. — The indexation rate for 2025 was 9.5%. The main financial risk has been eliminated, because of which many preferred to quit for the sake of indexing.

The record low unemployment rate also played a role — now, according to Rosstat, it is at a historic low of 2.1%.

— In such conditions, employers are forced to actively consider older candidates. The greatest demand remains in areas where experience, accuracy and responsibility are valued — in logistics, trade, education and healthcare," he said.

In addition, employment support measures continue to operate. The Social Fund of Russia compensates part of employers' expenses for the employment of certain categories of citizens. Although age is not allocated to a separate group, these subsidies indirectly stimulate hiring for this category of applicants.

— All this is shaping a new reality: retirees increasingly view work as an opportunity to stay active, maintain income, and maintain professional connections. Many choose part-time employment or remote formats. Age ceases to be a barrier in the labor market, and the legal and economic policy of the state creates conditions under which experience and reliability become significant advantages," the lawyer said.

Foremen and packers are among the most popular professions among applicants aged 65+. The number of responses for each of these vacancies increased by 146%. In addition, pensioners began to respond more actively to vacancies for kitchen workers — by 142%.

"These specialties attract older applicants with stable employment, clear tasks and the opportunity to apply skills such as responsibility, discipline and teamwork without having to master complex new specialties," Roman Gubanov believes.

And in hh.ru It was reported that pensioners of retirement and pre-retirement age began to respond to job vacancies more often by 40%. They are looking for jobs as installers, car washers, handymen, and packers. However, office professions are also in demand: consultants, managers, point of sale administrators, marketing specialists.

Superjob noted that businesses have also become more loyal to retirement—age applicants - every second company has started hiring retirees on a general basis, and another 31% are considering such candidates "from time to time or for individual positions."

Business increasingly values the experience, reliability and loyalty of the "silver" staff, Maria Koleda, head of the information department of the independent trade union Novy Trud, told Izvestia.

Svetlana Mironyuk, professor of business practice and Vice-rector for Operations and Digital Development at the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, called for forgetting about stereotypes: in the past decades, there was an opinion that people over 55 years old were those who had completed their active career and were not looking for new opportunities in the labor market.

— This is categorically wrong now. The life of the older age groups has lengthened and filled with new content and new opportunities. The current cohort is quite a digital and active generation, a generation of perestroika and turbulence. These are people who are used to adapting, retraining, integrating into changes, investing in themselves and achieving their goals," she said.

Therefore, the expert called the trend when such a generation is looking for work not accidental and natural.

— The attitude of employers towards employees who used to be called age—related has also changed, but now the language does not turn to call them that, - said Svetlana Mironyuk. — These are experienced, reliable and hardworking employees who are unlikely to be placed in breakthrough positions in the field of new technologies. But these are the team members you can rely on in times of crisis or in difficult times.

Therefore, there is an increasing interest on the part of the older generation in finding a job, in her opinion, this is a long-term, rather than a situational trend. It is fueled by three sustainable drivers: an increase in the retirement age, flexible employment, and a structural shortage of personnel in a number of industries. Therefore, it is important for employers to remove hidden ageism from job descriptions and selection processes, be prepared for portfolio employment of candidates and adapt working conditions for such employees, providing flexible hours, VMI and volunteering opportunities, the expert recommended.