More than a third of Russians plan to change jobs in 2026

The Russian educational platform Defin and the online job search assistant AIMIKA conducted a study on how Russians are changing professions and rebuilding their careers in 2026. The survey data was reviewed by Izvestia on March 3.

According to the results of the study, over the past 24 months, 21% of respondents have completely changed their industry or received additional education to switch to a new profession. Another 37% plan to do so within the next year, while 42% are not yet considering radical career changes.

The main motive for changing activities remains the growth of income, which was indicated by 61% of respondents. Almost half of the respondents, 48%, strive for a remote work format. The lack of career prospects in the current position worries 43% of the survey participants, while emotional burnout and loss of interest in the profession were noted in 32%.

Russians name digital literacy and working with artificial intelligence among the most in-demand skills over the next three to five years (64%). More than half, 53%, consider the ability to work with analytics and data important. Management and project management skills were noted by 46%, digital and marketing competencies — 38%, engineering and technical skills — 34%, and IT and programming — 33%.

Career turnaround: two thirds of Russians plan to change their profession in 2026

What is the reason for this trend and how new is it?

Among those who have already changed their profession, 57% indicated that courses and educational platforms provided the greatest help. Professional community chats helped 31% of respondents, career consultants and coaches — 21%, and working with a psychologist to understand professional needs — 11%.

Russians aged 25 to 35 turned out to be the most active group in changing their profession (43%). Another 22% are in the 35-45 age group, and 25% are in the 18-24 age group. The share of respondents aged 45-55 was 10%.

Assessing the adaptation to a new profession, 46% of the participants described the transition as average in terms of difficulty. 32% consider it comfortable, while 22% perceive a change of activity as a turning point in life.

Among those who are just thinking about changes, the main deterrent remains the fear of losing income — 58% of respondents indicated it. Another 36% do not know where to start, and 28% doubt whether a new profession is suitable for them. Only 14% of respondents noted age as a barrier.

On February 25, it was reported that the welding profession became the highest-paid in Russia at the beginning of 2026. The second place in the list was taken by electricians, their salary is 160 thousand rubles, followed by machinists and installers with a salary of almost 147 thousand rubles.

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