VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“In 2011 we will allocate another 105 billion roubles in social support for the jobless and for employment programmes, which will not focus on providing jobs but on upgrading worker skills and creating conditions in which people will be able to receive new, higher paid jobs that are in demand. The priority right to participation in these programmes is given to the people who objectively have problems with finding jobs.”
“Our employment policy is focused on creating modern, efficient and highly paid jobs, on stimulating new technology and through this reducing the percent of hazardous and dangerous jobs. <…>We will have at our disposal a set of administrative and economic tools for obliging employers to strictly comply with labour safety standards and to invest in the safety of their workers. We must raise the competitiveness and professional status of our workers and the prestige of the vocational trades.”
«We are creating additional incentives for promoting an active labour market policy. Such special zones for innovation make it possible to create cost-effective and well-paid jobs for people».
“The state, for its part, will help people acquire new professional skills, and will finance retraining and supplementary training programmes for staff of the companies engaged in production modernisation. Women employed in hazardous jobs, as well as new mothers on maternity leave, until their children reach the age of three years, will be able to acquire new professions for which there is high demand at state expense. Please note: we are allocating additional budget for these categories of individuals.”
“Next year, we will continue to be actively engaged in the labour market. The government has allocated nearly 28 billion roubles for employment programmes. We will also have to develop an effective policy regarding labour migration, and to boost the mobility of Russia's workforce. Other planned policies are aimed at making our social security system financially sustainable. We will also build a new mandatory medical insurance system, which should cover all Russian regions within two years.”
“Russia has been working toward the formation of a civilised labour market, which includes attracting workers from abroad. We are well aware that this is especially important for Russia. I mean our relations with CIS countries, with which we have no visa regime and practically no borders. This is a difficult social and political issue, a labour issue, an issue of international relations, and an issue of striking the balance between different areas of our national interests. We are extremely interested in labour migration being absolutely legal, so that there are no gray areas that give rise to crime and corruption.”
“Official unemployment has dropped by a million in the past year. That is a very good pace for cutting unemployment. The economy is also recovering at a fairly rapid pace, which is the most important factor for the labour market to rebound. But there is another side to this problem. We should not replicate the inefficient jobs and industries of yesterday; we need to build a modern labour market to create new, high-tech and high-paid jobs. We will move in this direction.”
“What the problem is with our educational system? The problem, unfortunately, is that there is a disconnect between how professionals are educated and what the labour market actually needs. Our goal, the government's goal is to first of all combine these two components. And here there are several ways to address this problem. One of them is early internships at companies that are interested in recruiting particular specialists. Such a practice is now becoming more widespread.”
“Long-term unemployment is probably the region's most acute social and even psychological challenge. A jobless person, especially a young one, feels abandoned and loses hope. I believe that our effectiveness in addressing the problem of unemployment will be the yardstick by which we measure the success of our joint efforts in the North Caucasus. Over the next 10 years, we must meet a critical objective: creating at least 400,000 new jobs in the North Caucasus. And we must do it together.”
At the same time, it's necessary to increase our efforts in addressing the strategic objectives of the development of the labour market. I'm referring primarily to advanced training programmes. People have shown interest in training for new professions. State employment agencies should offer more such opportunities, organising internships for young professionals and helping people with disabilities find jobs.
“We value your opinion of the effectiveness of the policies to support employment, including regional programmes to reduce the strain on the labour market. And I must say that last year we managed to defuse the situation in the labour market thanks to the implementation of these programmes and the insistent but reasonable policies of the trade unions. Once again, I would like to express my hope that we will continue to work together well into the future.”
“We took preventive action to avert critical unemployment growth, to enable people to keep their jobs, to learn new professions or to open their own businesses. We also tried to help enterprises retain their most skilled personnel. Employment-facilitation programmes covered 2.8 million people. In February 2009, unemployment hit an all-time high of 7.1 million during the crisis, declining to 6.4 million in March 2010. Although this is still a lot, the overall trend seems positive. This means that, regardless of seasonal fluctuation, we managed to launch processes that restored the labour market and promoted the creation of jobs.”
"We are creating a single information network that is going to contain all the data from job centres and various recruitment agencies. It will also have information about the situation in the economy and about the skills and professions that are currently in demand in the job market across the country. The network is being created at the moment. I think it's going to become available in June."
"We must thoroughly address the issue of creating effective and well-paid jobs. For this reason, special employment programmes and support of one-industry towns will be continued. Togliatti will be one of the first cities to receive support. This year, 43.7 billion roubles were allocated for special employment programmes. In 2010, the amount allocated will be slightly smaller - 36.3 billion roubles, but this sum is large enough to cope with our problems."
"We have managed to stabilise the labour market and prevent unemployment from spiralling out of control. During the recent televised question and answer session, I said that people's real disposable incomes would be much the same as in 2008, or decrease by only 0.4%. And now that we have the data for the whole year, it turns out there even was some growth. People's real disposable incomes will increase by about 0.7-1%."
"In Russia, salaries fell somewhat in the commercial sector. At the same time, the salaries of state-employed workers grew by a little over 5%, to be exact, by 3.8-5%, thanks to boosting the funds allocated for salary payments by 30% in December 2008. The effect was felt in 2009. Pensioners' revenues also surged, compared with what they received before. Salaries dropped by 10-12% in the commercial sector, but there was a slight increase in other economic sectors. Taken altogether, these factors resulted in real disposable incomes being down -0.4%, which is virtually the level of 2008".
“Additional support measures are stipulated for school graduates, people with disabilities. A job created for a disabled person entitles the employer to a subsidy of 30,000 roubles. College and university graduates will be afforded extended training periods at factories and plants with pay, enabling them to gain practical experience.”
“In 2009, we have generally managed to free up the jobs market. Our efforts had a positive impact after all, though not in every area. Regional programmes involved almost 2,200,000 people, who were facing joblessness because of the crisis or sackings. People were given real help when they most needed it. Of course, we are aware that many people are questioning the quality of these jobs, and rightly so. But, again, this was a makeshift decision, taken at the time of a sharp economic crisis. In this context, we decided to carry on with our anti-crisis measures and support the jobs market in 2010. We are allocating 36.3 billion roubles for these purposes.”
"We decided to continue employment programmes through 2010, and we will allocate 36 billion roubles from the federal budget for this purpose. The effectiveness of our efforts mainly depends on municipal authorities, their ability to handle the situation on-site, and their understanding of the actual state of affairs. Obviously, it will be necessary to revise the priorities for our programmes supporting the labour market, which must be done while taking into account long-term plans to modernise and diversify the economy."
"Next year's priorities must include increasing employees' professional skills, thus ensuring effective employment and creating new, highly-paid jobs. We need to pay more attention to retraining and advanced training programmes. We must also more actively support self-employment and new businesses. In addition, employment programmes must be supplemented by measures targeted to support the most vulnerable social groups, including large families, people with disabilities, seniors - everyone who has difficulty finding a new job, or is unable to find one at all."
