Labour market ready to give in to unemployed

About 180 vacancies in online commerce

Last Friday, the employment centre of the Sovetsky district of Kazan, apparently responding to some autumn growth in unemployment, held a job fair within its walls. . Tables with advertising booklets, flyers, questionnaires and attention: it seems that nothing else is needed. Of course, it cannot be said that the fair caused some extraordinary excitement. Nevertheless, people one by one and in small groups busily approached every now and then.

KazanExpress HR Manager Vladislav reminded that he represents a fast-growing marketplace:

“This is an online store. Our growth increases by 800 percent from year to year. In this regard, a lot of vacancies are opening up: about 30 a month.”

Now, according to him, they have about 180 free places in all departments, from warehouse workers to accounting and IT development. At the same time, as the young man said, salaries are “above average”. He clarified that they consist of salary and bonuses. The salary is official, and employment is from the very first day. And almost all vacancies have training. Kazan residents have an interest, he stated. In an hour of work, Vladislav had 20 completed applicants' questionnaires.

The HR officer said that they have the opportunity to earn extra money before the New Year for students and everyone.

“Now there is a rush in the field of sales and there is a schedule for part-time work. We have created special conditions for students and those people who cannot have a full-time employment schedule of 5 days in two: we offer work from four hours a day, but for this, it is necessary to find a job officially.”

In general, everyone's earnings are different. “If you take the administrators at pick-up points, on average, a full-time employee gets from 30 thousand a month. If we take IT development, then salaries are much higher there: they start from 100 thousand rubles," the young man said.

He was very attentive to conversations with potential applicants. For example, a young woman who filled out questionnaires and was interested in the work of a picker in a warehouse, outlined her official duties simply step by step and very accessible: “They bring a collected order, you need to put it in a package," etc. One of those interested is Alsu, she is 32 and her maternity leave is about to finish. “I know this marketplace. We often make orders there," she explained her choice to KazanExpress, adding that besides, a free schedule is possible here. They discussed working at a pick-up point in the area where she lives.

I used to earn 100k, but here only 12k

Tekhstroy PLC, and this is a plant for the production of polymer pipes, both workers and engineering and technical workers are required. Salaries, judging by the booklet, are not low at all. Guzel, the representative of the company, said that 15 people walked through their stand during an hour of working of the fair, but only three were really interested.

“Basically, they come just for a tick: to check in," she called the reason, apparently referring to those who are registered in the employment centre and receive unemployment benefits.

This moment was also indicated by the representative of the Centre for Economic and Service Services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: “People register at the labour exchange and they are obliged to come to sign in.” In general, they need engineers, drivers, repairmen, etc. “We are a state-funded organisation," Yelena firmly outlined the status of the specialist, adding that, based on this, their salaries are not very high.

Magnit chain of stores is looking for sellers, commodity experts and even store directors “absolutely in all areas of the city”. Recruitment manager Olga Kirilushkina explained this by the expansion of the network: all new stores are opening. Apparently, this is directly related to the news of recent days that Edelveys retail chain of the Khairullins family is transferring part of the premises of its retail stores to Magnit for long-term lease. To those who wish, as the retailer's HR officer told, they can find a job near home.

“Officially declared salary, career growth, convenient work schedule: for sellers from four hours a day," she continued to attract. Commodity experts, as it turned out, work two days in two, the directors have an even higher load: 5/2.

Another piece of good news: the retailer, according to the manager, has raised staff salaries since October 1. At the time of our conversation, 12 women and 7 men had applied, as it was calculated. Only two people have dared to fill out the questionnaires so far.

“Candidates with an economic education who want to work in an office are more suitable. And men are more likely to consider working professions for themselves: a tinker, driver, etc," Kirilushkina explained the passivity of applicants.

One of them, Oleg, and he is now 47, previously worked as a building maintenance worker: repair of electrics, plumbing, etc. The man said that he had been ill for a long time, for 3 months. During this time, his organisation, like many others in this field, closed down, and he found himself unemployed. He did not find anything suitable for himself at the job fair, but he does not want to make concessions to the conjuncture: “I have worked in this field for 18 years.” Therefore, he is looking for an occupation only by his specialisation. He agrees to a salary of 30-40 thousand rubles.

“My dad used to tell me: go to a road technical school!” another visitor, who introduced himself as Rinat, half jokingly, half seriously commented on the fair's proposals. The man, according to him, graduated from a power engineering school. He has been looking for a job for 3 months and so far without success. At his previous job, as Rinat said, he was laid off because “he was ill for a long time”. “I have worked in the energy sector for 38 years. KIP is everything. Including all metering devices. I went on sick leave for 8 months," he explained. “And they immediately decided that they no longer need me.”

He didn't find anything suitable for himself at the fair either. “There are only shops here. I can't be a salesman: only a director, but I don't have an economic education," nevertheless, the 58-year-old man radiated optimism. “Going to the police as a driver? I used to earn 100,000 rubles, and here the salary is only 12,000.” While he is being paid benefits at work, but in December it will be the last payment. He did not rule out that if he did not find anything, he would go to work in the boiler room — if he retrains. To the question of whether it is useful to communicate directly with employers, the man honestly replied that a good place should be sought through acquaintances: “The old, tried-and-tested way.”

“What is there for 'pre-retirees'? Nothing”

“Open hh.ru and look: all network companies have approximately the same conditions. They are unreal!” Inna, another visitor of the fair, a 57-year-old woman, spoke skeptically about open vacancies. But not unfounded, but based on her own experience. According to her, in both large and small retail chains, the duties of the staff include a lot of things: “This is working on a computer (reporting), meeting the deadlines for the sale of products. Besides, you need to make sure that the price tags are correctly displayed, and the goods are arranged in rotation. And also to wash the floors themselves and keep clean. And so that you still have high sales.”

According to Inna, the main problem of retailers is low salaries, so young people do not go there, reasoning like this: “I have to run around with a rag, and send a report for the administrator, and serve customers, and if a check comes and finds an overdue product, they can impose a fine of 50 thousand rubles. I won't earn that much!”

In short, in her opinion, there are low salaries in trade with the required high performance.

“Nothing has been thought out," Inna concluded. “Hence persistent problems with the staff. Even more so, there is nothing for “pre-retirees” in retail chains to do. When your legs don't really walk and your hands don't work, what will you do under the cameras in 12 hours? You can't sit, you can't stand either. The employee of the trading floor must be on the move all the time.”

Employment centres also offer vacancies in private stores. But even there, the woman says, young people are preferred, because “confident PC use” is mandatory for applicants. “I should have been retired by now," Inna finally remarked with great regret.

There has always been an imbalance in the labour market

The deputy director of the branch of the Employment Centre for the Sovetsky district of Kazan, Elmira Khuzieva, told Realnoe Vremya that they hold such job fairs every month. “People can ask their questions to the employer without coming to the enterprise. This is a plus for them: they can simultaneously communicate with a large number of those who need workers," she says. According to Khuzieva, there are many cases of unemployed people finding jobs at job fairs.

The deputy director noted that they invite not only enterprises of their district to participate in such events: “For example, KazanExpress is geographically located in the Aviastroitelny District. But they have a great need for personnel and, at the same time, an attractive salary of 30-40 thousand, so they are here today.” The Employment Centre, says Khuzieva, receives a lot of applications for working specialties and more.

“In general, there have been a shortage of doctors in the labour market for several years: both doctors and junior medical staff — nannies and nurses. There are many vacancies in working professions: janitor, cleaner, as well as various specialties in the construction industry. And our district is no exception," she comments.

The interlocutor of our publication states that, among other things, there is a great need for vacancies at such large enterprises located in the district as Kazancompressormash, Kazhimnii, KOMZ: “We try to recruit them from among our unemployed, but the demand does not always match the supply. There is an imbalance, but it has always been in the labour market.”

According to the deputy director, those who want to work find something to do very quickly. At the same time, there are many who have not been employed for a very long time, because they simply do not want to do it:

“We call them professional unemployed. They come purposefully to register for unemployment benefits.” According to the law “On Employment”, a person must not have two refusals from a suitable job: only then can he be recognised as unemployed. But HR specialists complain to us that candidates for employees in our direction come to them and ask: “Please put a mark on me that I was with you and you refused me," they persuade me to do it, even swear. In general, they try to get such a paper by any means. The maximum amount of unemployment benefits is 12 thousand 130 rubles, the minimum is 1,5 thousand. It is unrealistic to live on such an income.”