Doesn’t smell like money: average salaries of Russians in June fell by 4%

At the end of June, the wage fund in Russia decreased by an average of 4% compared to the same period last year. This follows from the joint report on the state of the labor market “Rabota.ru” and “Sberdannyh”, which Izvestia got acquainted with. According to experts, this is primarily due to a decrease in wages in the affected industries – many employers refused to cut staff, but sent employees on unpaid leave or reduced bonuses. In April and May, companies’ spending on salaries fell more strongly – by 6% and 8%, respectively. Thus, we can talk about a partial recovery of the labor market after the pandemic, experts say.

Still in the red

The study is not directly about salaries, but about the payroll fund. Its reduction indicates a fall in the cost of employee benefits. This can be due to both a reduction in staff and a decrease in remuneration while maintaining the number of staff.

In June, the wage bill in the country fell by 4% compared to the same month last year, the report says. In May, there was a decrease by 7.6%, in April – by 6%. In March, the general wage bill was still growing: compared to last year’s figure, it was 1.7% more.

Analysts also tracked how employers have changed the cost of wages by industry. These data reflect the situation in March-May in comparison with the previous year. Most of all, the wage bill fell in the sphere of hotels and catering (-27.8%), according to the study. In second place are travel agencies, whose salary fund in the spring fell by 23.9% compared to last year. This is followed by such categories as personal services (-20.8%), rent and leasing (-18.8%), cinema (-18.6%), air transport (-17.3%), casinos (-16 , 2%), insurance (-15.3%).

At the same time, in a number of industries, the wage fund, on the contrary, has grown. The most significant increase was in the telecommunications sector – by 11.3%. The costs of salaries in metallurgical companies and in the civil service added 5.2% each. Also, the wage bill grew in firms that provide financial services (+ 4.3%), mining of metal ores (3.8%), construction of engineering structures (+ 2.7%), paper production (+ 2.3% ). In the field of social services, the salary fund increased by 2.2%, in medicine – by 2.1%, in education – by 1.3%.

In general, over the spring, incomes fell for half of the country’s working population, the study says. Layoffs and complete loss of earnings were faced by 2.5% of employees. Of these, 6% received unemployment benefits, 10% – social benefits, which could soften the decline in income.

Judging by the available data of official statistics, in some sectors there really was a decrease in wages, the press service of the Ministry of Labor agreed. For example, in the hotel business and catering, the indicators for January-May 2020 are lower by 4.4% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the average wage in Russia as a whole for the period January-May amounted to 49 thousand rubles – 6.2% more than the same period in 2019, they added. According to the medium-term forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, in 2020, a decrease in wages by 0.5% is possible, the Ministry of Labor also recalled.

There are some signs that the labor market is beginning to recover. Thus, despite the decrease in the activity of companies and job seekers in April-May, Rabot.ru notes an increase in the number of new employers by 1.5 times, and the number of unique vacancies – by 16% compared to May, said the commercial director of the service Vladimir Koritsky.

– We try to be careful in our forecasts – the wave of the coronavirus crisis, which forced many companies to suspend and close their activities, has not yet subsided, and we will see its consequences until the end of autumn. But there is hope. For example, in June we recorded almost twice as many waiter vacancies than in the first days of summer – the restaurant sector has become just one of the industries that is rapidly recovering, the expert explained.

Towards recovery

Most employers still prefer to cut employee benefits rather than lay off staff. Fyodor Prokopov, vice-president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told Izvestia. For the most part, the decline in wage funds is due precisely to this. For example, businessmen reduce the number of working hours or the bonus part of the salary, he explained. This approach allows employees to return to normal mode as soon as sales or production are restored, and not spend resources on finding new personnel, the expert said. In addition, the preservation of the state allows companies to rely on measures of state support, said Fedor Prokopov.

It is likely that by the end of the year, salaries of Russians will return to pre-crisis levels, unless there is a second wave of restrictions, believes associate professor of the base department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation “Development of human capital” of the PRUE named after G.V. Plekhanova Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets. However, in the sectors of the economy, the recovery will proceed at different rates, she said.

– Transportation, transport, tourism, hotel business, culture and sports, most likely, will not be able to fully recover before the New Year, since there are restrictions and continue not only in our country, but also in other countries, – the expert explained.

However, salaries and incomes are not the same thing, said Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets. Due to state support, family budgets are not cut as sharply as earnings, she pointed out.

From June 1, Russians have the right to pay 10 thousand rubles for each child from 3 to 16 years old. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that parents could receive this amount twice. Moreover, for those who have already made the first payment, the money will be transferred automatically. Approximately 28 million children have been given such assistance from the state, said earlier the head of the Pension Fund Maxim Topilin. Parents of more than 90% of them have already received payments.