Workers alone: drivers and welders had the fastest wage growth in 2024
In the outgoing year, salaries grew fastest among drivers, welders and promoters - by 1.5-2 times. However, in some industries, salaries decreased - for collectors, copywriters and financial analysts, hh.ru told Izvestia. On average, the offered salaries increased by a quarter, up to 72 thousand. This year the shortage of workers has worsened, but next year the "salary race" will slow down, experts believe. This is one of the challenges for the Russian economy, which lacks supply of goods and services. How the record salary increase affects inflation and whether the welfare of citizens is really improving - in the material of "Izvestia".
To whom salaries were raised most of all in 2024
Over the year, the proposed salaries in Russia increased by a quarter - from 58 thousand in 2023 to 71.8 thousand rubles in 2024, the recruiting platform hh.ru calculated (Izvestia has the document). In this case, the highest growth showed the profession of promoter - by 88%, up to 68 thousand. The fastest salary was also increased to drivers (+42%, up to 129 thousand) and welders (+39%, up to 138.5 thousand), follows from the data of the study.
According to the calculations of "Avito Rabota", noticeably increased salaries of construction and industrial specialists, as well as warehouse workers - loaders, storekeepers and carpenters this year offer a salary of 64-70% more than in 2023, said the development director of the platform Roman Gubanov. At the same time, the average wages in the country increased by 17%, up to Br79.2 thousand, he added.
According to the latest data from Rosstat, the average earnings of Russians as of September amounted to Br84.3 thousand. Compared with last year, it has increased by 18%.
In terms of employment sectors, the leaders in terms of wage growth were manufacturing, financial and insurance activities, as well as construction, according to the report of the Accounts Chamber on budget execution for January-September 2024 (Izvestia has studied it).
- The main driver of the Russian economy's recovery now is the manufacturing industry. This is mainly due to the state defense order and import substitution. This has influenced the growth of wages for welders and promoters, since the former are in short supply on the market, while the latter have increased in demand due to the need to promote domestic goods," explained Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global.
As for drivers, their salaries are being raised due to the growing demand in retail and the development of delivery services, the expert continued. In addition, she said, such specialists are needed everywhere, especially in production and logistics.
Another reason is the increase in cargo turnover with China, added Viktor Lyashok, a leading researcher at the INSAP center of IPEI of the Presidential Academy.
According to the data of "Work.ru", the fastest offered salaries also grew in vacancies for students, for applicants without experience and in the service sector, shared the deputy general director of the service Alexander Veterkov.
At the same time, according to the study hh.ru, the most "expensive" professions this year have become IT-specialties - DevOps-engineer, data scientist and systems analyst. Offers to such applicants exceed 170-200 thousand. However, they have shown a small growth over the year - only by 12-18%. The top 5 also included real estate agents and surveyors.
"Izvestia" asked the Ministry of Labor to tell about the factors of wage growth in Russia.
Who will earn less in 2024
At the same time fell salary offers of specialists in debt collection (-24%, up to 50 thousand), copywriters and editors (-21%, up to 59 thousand), financial analysts (-8%, up to 85 thousand) and fitness trainers (-3%, up to 62 thousand), follows from the calculations of hh.ru.
The fact is that the profession of collectors is now quite heavily regulated, explained Natalia Milchakova from Freedom Finance Global. According to her, many such firms, which ten years ago could boast of high salaries, are leaving the market, and it is logical that salaries in this field are not growing.
- Indeed, the law has tightened the requirements for the work of debt collectors. In addition, certain restrictions on debt collection have been imposed on the participants of the SWO," added Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
As for copywriters and fitness trainers, there is no shortage of personnel in these professions now, but there is competition with self-employed citizens, which employers find it more profitable to hire than full-time employees, said Natalia Milchakova.
And the salaries of financial analysts may have slightly decreased, as the opportunities for trading in foreign securities have decreased, believes Alexander Safonov. However, this profession is considered to be highly paid in any case.
At the same time, the slowest increase in salaries in marketing and IT - such specialists were offered only 11% more, shared Alexander Veterkov from "Work.ru". Reduced growth rates in these areas is explained by the traditionally high level of salaries than among employees of the mass segment, the expert noted.
How the growth of salaries affects the economy
According to Rosstat data, the growth of nominal wages in 2024 is the highest since 2008, recalled Olga Belenkaya, Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at Finam. This is due to the fact that labor in Russia has become almost the most scarce resource. Unemployment in October has renewed the historical minimum of 2.3%, and the reserves for increasing employment have been practically exhausted.
- The reasons are the unfavorable demographic trend, the overflow of the active part of the labor force to the defense-industrial complex, and the rapid development of the labor-intensive services market (marketplaces, delivery, hotels, catering). At the same time, migration policy is tightening and the inflow of foreign specialists is decreasing," the expert explained.
The growth of wages, which is caused by the lack of specialists, rather than the increase in labor productivity, is one of the main factors in accelerating inflation, said Viktor Lyashok from the Presidential Academy. According to the expert, the "wage race" also affects private business, without which further economic growth is impossible.
According to Rosstat, annual inflation in Russia in November 2024 amounted to 8.88%, exceeding the Central Bank's forecast (8-8.5%).
Inflation eats up a significant part of the increased salary, so the growth of salaries does not directly affect the welfare of citizens, says Alexander Safonov of the Financial University. However, according to him, such a trend forces employers to change their attitude to people for the better.
The expert predicts: in 2025, the rate of salary growth is likely to be within the inflation rate or a little more, because business has no real resources for more active encouragement of people.
