MIL-OSI Russia: HSE Economists Describe the Portrait of a Russian Remote Worker and Platform Employee

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

In Russia, mostly married women aged 30–39 with higher education living in large cities work remotely, while platform employment is more typical for men of the same age with a wide range of qualifications from megacities. This is the conclusion reached by economists from the Higher School of Economics after analyzing digital forms of employment in the Russian labor market. The study was published in a preprint of the series “Problems of the labor market”.

Modern technologies have changed the labor market, making remote and platform employment popular forms of work. Russia has not remained on the sidelines: remote work attracts women with higher education living in large cities, and platform employment is more typical for men working in the transport sector or in retail.

Platform employment is work via online platforms where specialists find clients, communicate with them, and provide services or sell goods. This is how taxi drivers, couriers, psychologists, tutors, copywriters, and designers work.

Remote employment is work that is performed outside of an office or other work premises provided by the employer. It can be organized with or without the use of digital technologies.

Deputy Director Center for Labor Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics Rostislav Kapelyushnikov and senior lecturer Department of Applied Economics Faculty of Economic Sciences, National Research University Higher School of Economics Daria Zinchenko conducted a study on the specifics of digital forms of employment in the Russian labor market. The study covers the period from 2020 to 2023.

Scientists have found that in Russia, women work remotely, making up about 60% of the workforce, while men work remotely, making up 40%. According to the researchers, this is due to two circumstances. Firstly, there are traditionally more women among workers engaged in mental work (white collars), while physical work (blue collars), which is more often done by men, requires personal presence, which makes remote employment virtually impossible. Secondly, remote work allows you to devote more time and attention to family responsibilities, which traditionally fall on women.

Among remote workers in Russia, employees aged 30–39 (36.5%) predominate; they live in cities and have higher education. Remote employment is most often used in the field of information technology, where every eighth person works online. Then come scientific and technical activities — 7%, finance and real estate transactions — 4%. This form of employment is even less common in administrative activities — about 2.5%. The outsider in this list is agriculture: there are practically no remote employees in this industry.

In platform employment, as in remote employment, the largest group is workers aged 30 to 39. Most Russians who work in platform employment mode, like remote workers, live in large cities (82%); almost 40% have higher education. However, unlike remote work, platform employment is widely represented by blue-collar jobs with different qualification requirements, so it is more skewed towards the male audience (58%). If we talk about industries, platform employment is most often used in the field of transport and trade (about 20%), construction (about 10%) and manufacturing (slightly more than 7%). In sectors such as agriculture, mining, electricity and water supply, platform employment is almost never used.

“Today, a significant portion of Russian workers have accumulated real experience working in these non-standard modes and are able to switch to them quickly and painlessly,” notes Daria Zinchenko, one of the authors of the study.

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