Recruitment boom: Russians' job seeking activity increased by 52%
The Russian labor market is breaking records in terms of job seeker engagement: in January – May, the number of resumes increased by 52%, and salary expectations reached almost 70 thousand rubles. However, sociologists believe that behind this surge in activity is not so much a desire for career growth as a fear of economic instability and impending cuts. In which areas there has been the most noticeable growth and how old are the most active applicants — in the Izvestia material.
There are more applicants: reasons
According to the Avito Work service, in January – May 2026, the Russian labor market demonstrated a steady increase in job seeker engagement: the number of resumes on the platform increased by 52%, and the average salary expectations of candidates reached 69,837 rubles/month.
Sociologist, director of the Association of Organizers of Student Olympiads "I am a professional" Valeria Kasamara expressed the opinion that economic uncertainty and the desire for financial stability play a major role in such an increase in activity.
"Despite low unemployment, the economic situation remains volatile. Rising prices encourage people to look for higher—paying jobs or additional earnings to maintain purchasing power," Kasamara told Izvestia.
The sociologist also cited data from the Rosstat report "The Socio-economic situation of Russia. January – March 2026": according to it, the share of unprofitable enterprises in Russia increased by 5 percentage points, which directly creates risks of cuts and job instability.
"Employees, seeing the deterioration of their employers' financial condition, are actively looking for alternative employment options to protect themselves from possible layoffs. This is a classic "preventive" behavior in the labor market: people go out to search while they still have a job, so as not to find themselves in the position of forced unemployed," Casamara explained.
Age is not a hindrance: how old are the most active applicants?
According to Avito Rabota, the most noticeable increase in job seeker activity is recorded in the age group of 45-64 years — the number of resumes increased by 97%. Candidates aged 35-44 showed an increase of 80%, while young people aged 25-34 showed an increase of 69%. This suggests that all age groups are interested in finding a job, and there is an upward shift in the most active age.
"In Russia, not only the demographic structure is changing, but also the attitude towards work and age itself. According to Rosstat, as of January 1, 2024, the average age of the population reached 41 years (women — 43.3 years, men - 38.3 years), having increased by 2.6 years since 2006 and by 1.7 years since 2013. Age is no longer a barrier: people aged 45-64 are increasingly viewed by employers as having valuable experience, and older applicants themselves are ready to learn new professions, retrain and work in flexible formats. The share of people over the working age is already 23.7%, and this group is becoming one of the most active in the labor market," Kasamara shared.
At the same time, attitudes towards work are changing: work is no longer "lifelong" and is perceived as a source of not only income, but also self-realization, social connections and active longevity. People aged 45-64 do not want to retire, preferring to remain in demand by specialists. Sociologist Casamara stressed that the 97% increase in the number of resumes in this age group in 2026 is not an accidental surge, but a natural reflection of a new social norm, where age becomes a resource, and work activity is part of a long and fulfilling life.
Men vs Women
There is also a gender factor in the activity of applicants. According to Avito Jobs, the number of resumes among men increased by 69%, and among women — by 37%. Nevertheless, according to Valeria Kasamara, it is not worth reducing statistics to simple theses: "men are more active than women in their careers." There are other factors behind this data. The sociologist noted that this gap is primarily due to the fact that men are more often employed in unstable industries that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn.
"A key example is construction: according to Rosstat, the volume of construction work in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 10% compared to the same period last year. Women are more likely to work in the public sector (education, healthcare, culture), where the risks of cuts are lower, and salaries are growing more slowly but steadily. In addition, women face additional social barriers: child care, less geographical and professional mobility, which reduces their need and ability to actively change jobs," the expert explained.
Salary expectations
Avito Jobs experts also compared the salary expectations of applicants based on two criteria: age and experience. Thus, applicants aged 45-64 expect an average salary of 84,525 rubles/month. The 35-44 age group claims 84,974 rubles/month, while zoomers are willing to settle for 73,620 rubles/month.
The category of applicants with at least three years of work experience deserves special attention: their activity increased by 136%, and salary expectations amounted to 88 285 rubles/month. For comparison, among candidates without experience (up to a year), the number of resumes increased by only 39%, and the expected income was 63,352 rubles/month.
"Employers are increasingly competing for qualified specialists, and experience remains one of the factors in the formation of salary proposals," the press service of Avito Rabota told Izvestia.
Sociologists note that age-related prejudice in hiring is a thing of the past and agree that the main factor in successful employment is the candidate's experience.
"The increase in the activity of experienced specialists (by 136%) is explained by their high demand in conditions of a shortage of personnel and the transition of companies to the point hiring of "ready-made professionals" who bring results immediately. Newcomers, on the other hand, face low competitiveness: 30.3% of the unemployed have no work experience (according to Rostat), most vacancies require at least three years of experience, and there are fewer and fewer positions for beginners, which is why they receive endless refusals, spend much more time searching and lose motivation, which is why this explains their low activity (only 39%), despite the apparent logic to the contrary," explained Casamara.
Modern labor realities show an interesting trend: vertical promotions in one company are becoming rare. Instead, HR specialists recommend that you look for a new job and transfer to other companies to raise your salary. This is explained by the fact that an increase in payments to an existing employee remains at the discretion of the employer, but when recruiting, the company cannot fail to respond to modern market realities and therefore offers candidates competitive earnings in the industry.
"For experienced professionals, changing jobs has become the main way to raise their salaries, so they constantly monitor the market even without being fired," the sociologist summed up.
The most desirable areas
According to Avito Jobs, applicants are most actively responding to vacancies in three key areas: housing and communal services and operations have become the leader — the number of resumes has increased by 138%, and salary expectations have reached 74,277 rubles/month. Tourism and the restaurant business are in second place (+88%, 63,911 rubles/month). Manufacturing, raw materials and agriculture close the top three (+88%, 90,921 rubles/month). The interest in these industries is explained by the stable demand for personnel and the wide supply of vacancies, which is especially attractive to applicants in the current economic situation.
Valeria Kasamara explained this response structure as a direct reflection of the dynamics of the real sector and consumer demand, which is also evident from Rosstat data. So in the field of housing and communal services and operation: in the first quarter of 2026, 3,983 km of gas pipelines were commissioned, and the turnover of water supply and sanitation organizations increased by 5.8%, which creates a steady demand for engineering and maintenance personnel. In the hospitality sector, the catering industry is showing steady growth (+10.9% in January-February 2026) and the hotel business (+8.9% compared to the first quarter of 2025). In industrial production in the manufacturing sectors, the growth was 3.9% in 2025, and in agricultural production — 4.9% in 2025.
"The housing and utilities sector is coming out on top due to large-scale investments in infrastructure, which creates a steady demand for engineering and maintenance personnel. Tourism and restaurants took the second place due to the record growth in the turnover of catering and paid hotel services, which stimulates hiring in the service sector. Manufacturing, raw materials and agriculture round out the top three amid the growth of industrial production in the manufacturing sectors and an increase in agricultural production, which requires skilled workers and engineers. Applicants actively respond to exactly where the volumes of output, investment and turnover are really growing," Kasamara noted.
Against the background of the high interest of applicants in the manufacturing sector, the chemical industry looks particularly significant, where the number of vacancies for chemists increased 2.7 times (+174%) compared to the same period last year. The growth of employers' activity is associated with the expansion of production against the background of the policy of import substitution, as well as with the development of the domestic chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
"We see that the interest of applicants in the profession of a chemist is growing noticeably: the number of responses has increased by 48% over the year. This trend is particularly pronounced in the regions — for example, in Tatarstan the number of responses has more than doubled (+101%), and in the Krasnodar Territory — by 37%. This is largely due to the fact that the chemical industry remains one of the basic sectors of the economy: there is a steady demand for specialists amid the development of production, modernization of enterprises and expansion of capacities," explained Andrey Kucherenkov, Director of the Avito Work business area.
Expectation vs Reality: what employers offer
According to Avito Rabota, employers offer competitive conditions in the most in—demand areas: the average salary offered in housing and communal services and urban infrastructure is 80,366 rubles/month (+11% per year), in the hotel business and tourism - 82,374 rubles/month (+5%), in agriculture farm — 79,010 rubles/month (+7%).
However, it is important to keep in mind that the actual income level in each of these areas depends on a number of factors: the region of work, the format of employment, the number of shifts worked, the experience and qualifications of a specialist. Therefore, the average values show the general situation in the segment, but may differ from the offers for specific positions and regions.
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