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Monetary bar: about half of Russians are not ready to lower their salary expectations
Almost half of Russian residents do not consider the possibility of reducing their desired income level either when applying for a new job or in order to stay in their current position. This position, according to the survey, is held by 49% of respondents. Izvestia investigated the reasons for this trend, in which industries it manifests itself most noticeably, how such expectations of applicants change employers' hiring strategies, and whether there is a risk of an increase in hidden unemployment.
Market Features
Almost half of the respondents, according to a study conducted by HeadHunter (available to Izvestia), do not consider reducing their desired income either when changing employers or for the sake of maintaining their current position. This share has been approximately at the same level since the fall of 2025. However, compared to the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, it has grown significantly: then only about 40% of Russians refused salary concessions.
Flexibility varies markedly depending on age, profession, and region. The young candidates with no experience turned out to be the most inclined to make concessions. As the length of service accumulates, the willingness to reduce requests decreases and reaches a minimum in the middle-aged group, after which it again increases slightly among older employees.
Professionally, representatives of medicine, pharmaceuticals, trade, manufacturing, and logistics take the toughest position. Trade-offs are more common in the raw materials, marketing, and consulting industries.
The regional picture is also heterogeneous: in a number of republics and northern territories, candidates admit a decrease in income, while in the central and some Far Eastern regions, the prevailing attitude is to maintain the same level of pay.
The tough position of job seekers on salaries is directly related to the situation on the labor market, Anton Tabakh, chief economist at the Expert RA rating agency, told Izvestia. According to him, the country actually maintains a state of full employment, despite difficulties in certain, albeit significant, sectors and regions.
— The specifics of Russian labor legislation play an additional role: dismissals are more difficult here than in the United States and most European countries. In practice, employers are more likely to reduce income, transfer to idle or other compromise measures than to break off employment relations," the expert explained.
He added that in such an environment, the strategy of maintaining the current workplace looks the most rational for many employees and does not push them to revise their salary expectations downwards.
For companies, this means the need to change their approach to hiring, the source said. Rather than direct pay increases, intangible incentives are increasingly being offered. There is also a more intensive use of existing employees due to the redistribution of workload or the introduction of automation.
Speaking about the risks to the labor market, the expert noted that the slowdown in hiring has actually already occurred. Employers are cautious when opening vacancies, and employees are less likely to decide to change jobs, which is why the market has become less mobile.
"There are no signs of large—scale hidden unemployment yet, but statistics are already recording a reduction in overwork and overtime hours," Tabakh said. — An additional factor of uncertainty is the accelerated implementation of artificial intelligence-based solutions, which may increase pressure on employment in the future.
Unfilled vacancies
Sergey Grishunin, Managing Director of the NRA rating service, attributes the confident position of applicants primarily to the continuing shortage of personnel, which, in his opinion, remains a key factor influencing the labor market.
— As of the beginning of 2026, there are about 4.2 million unfilled vacancies in the economy, which is the highest level since the mid—2000s. At the same time, the shortage of workers has a pronounced structural character and is concentrated in a number of industries," the expert noted in an interview with Izvestia.
The shortage is most acute in working professions such as welders, electricians, and installers. About 65% of enterprises report the problem, the source said. 45% of companies have a significant shortage of engineers and technical specialists, 35% have doctors, and about 30% have IT personnel.
In these segments, according to Grishunin, it is the applicants who are able to set the conditions. At the same time, the situation is reversed in mass office professions: competition has grown to 9-10 resumes per vacancy. At the same time, even outside such categories, specialists with proven experience, measurable results and implemented projects remain in short supply.
This structure of demand also changes the behavior of employers. According to the expert, companies are abandoning the practice of widespread salary increases and moving towards tougher and more targeted strategies. Financial resources are being concentrated on key and most effective employees, while demands on other categories of personnel are increasing.
Speaking about the risks to the labor market, Sergey Grishunin explained that the likelihood of a large-scale increase in hidden unemployment remains moderate, but the slowdown in hiring has already become a reality.
Formally, the unemployment rate remains low, in the range of 2.1—2.3%, largely due to demographic constraints. At the same time, indirect signs of hidden employment are emerging: the proportion of part-time or weekly workers has reached 14.4%.
Increasingly, companies are choosing to switch to a reduced schedule or unpaid leave instead of layoffs. The slowdown in hiring in office segments is especially noticeable — only critical positions are being closed, and the selection process has become more lengthy and rigorous. The professionalism of candidates is coming to the fore, and the "close the vacancy at any cost" approach is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
Head of the "Popular Front. Analyst Olga Pozdnyakova, in a conversation with Izvestia, noted that with a continuing shortage of staff, employers are largely forced to adapt to the requests of applicants. However, according to her, the influence of macroeconomic factors is gradually increasing: the slowdown in economic growth and the achievement of a natural salary ceiling lead to the fact that candidates themselves are beginning to more soberly reconsider their financial expectations.
— The correlation of salary expectations and the field of activity is important. The fact is that the reasons for the willingness to consider offers with a lower salary level may be related not only to changes in demand in the labor market," the expert pointed out.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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