Russia faces severe worker shortage, recruits teenagers and foreign nationals

12 articles · Updated · Foreign Policy · Apr 29

Alabuga industrial complex in Tatarstan openly recruits Russian teenagers for drone assembly, while foreign worker permits for Indians rose tenfold to over 50,000 in 2025.
The labor crisis, worsened by war casualties, emigration, and demographic decline, leaves Russia’s manufacturing sector short nearly 2 million workers, with a projected national deficit exceeding 10 million by decade’s end.
Competition with the military inflates wages and drains civilian sectors, while xenophobic crackdowns and war risks deter Central Asian migrants, forcing Russia to seek labor from countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

Is Russia's global recruitment a brilliant strategy or a sign of utter desperation?

As Russia's own men refuse to fight, can foreign recruits win its war?

With one in five not surviving, why do thousands still enlist in Russia's army?

What happens to the families left behind by Russia's trafficked foreign soldiers?

Could international law ever stop Russia from preying on the world's most vulnerable?

How are African women being secretly lured into Russia's drone factory pipeline?