An Analysis of the Implications of Post Soviet Migration from CIS

Abstract

Labour migration to Russia is dynamic and massive in its flow from CIS countries. The different financial scenarios and the break-up of the Soviet Union's employment sphere stirred labour migration flow. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, this phenomenon became a mass phenomenon. The scale, nature and magnitude and implications of the labour migrants flow to Russia grew. Labour migration performs several roles: demographic stability, contribution to GDP, the cheap labour force in the domestic labour market differing and inciting social grievances and ethnic conflicts. Applicability of various push-pull methods paves the journey ahead for the potential migrant. Labour migration to Russia from CIS countries got driven due to the demographic crisis in Russia following 1992. Russia receives a considerable number of migrants from former Soviet Republics. For Russia, labour migration helped stabilise declining demography and economy, but some negative consequences were associated with this phenomenon in the recipient country. The need for labor in Russia has been persistently high since the end of the Soviet era. Russia will face a growing labor shortage as its population ages and its median age approaches 40 (as of 2022). Russia declared a 4.8 million worker shortfall in 2023. Russia mostly relies on migrant labor, especially from the former Soviet countries like the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, to handle this issue. With 11.6 million migrants, Russia has the fourth-largest migrant population in the world in 2020.