Russia is planning to hire up to 1 million workers before the end of this year to tackle a labour shortage in its major industrial zones, a business official has said.

Andrey Besedin, who is the head of the Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the RosBusinessConsulting news agency, "As I know, by the end of the year, 1 million Indian specialists will arrive in Russia, including the Sverdlovsk region. A new Consulate General is being established in Yekaterinburg, which will address these matters."

Besedin explained that bringing in Indian professionals would help solve the problem of the lack of skilled labour in the Sverdlovsk region.

This region, whose capital is Yekaterinburg, lies in the Ural Mountains and is a key location for Russian heavy industry and defence manufacturing, including well-known plants like Ural Mash and Ural Wagon Zavod, which make the T-90 tank series.

Besedin pointed out that factories in the region need to boost their production levels but are struggling due to a shortage of trained workers.

He added that some workers have been sent to serve in the military campaign in Ukraine and that young people are not choosing to work in factories.

Besedin also said that Russia is looking at the possibility of hiring workers from Sri Lanka and North Korea, although he noted that this remains a complicated issue.

Indian migrant workers started arriving in different parts of Russia in 2024 to help companies meet their employment needs.

One such example is the Za Rodinu fish processing plant located in Kaliningrad, which hired Indian workers due to a shortage of local staff.

According to RBC news agency, Russia’s Ministry of Labour has estimated that the country will face a shortfall of 3.1 million workers by the year 2030. The ministry has recommended that the quota for bringing in skilled foreign workers should be increased by one and a half times in 2025 to reach 0.23 million people.

Based on the ministry’s data, Russian industrial firms brought in 47 thousand skilled migrants from outside the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2024.

The Ministry of Economic Development has also called for an expansion in the list of countries from which workers can be hired.

Meanwhile, following the terrorist attack that took place at Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22 last year, the Russian government has made migration laws stricter and has imposed tighter restrictions on migrants coming from former Soviet republics.