Zee Beam News

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Alexander Yurov.) - Almost all major world companies have offices in Russia. There are nearly 5,000 of them in Moscow alone, and many foreign companies have their own production sites here too. All of them have a common problem of finding skilled personnel.
Russians would gladly work for a foreign company because they pay much more. But this is not the only reason. The U.S. recruiting and executive search company Staffwell has polled applicants to foreign companies and concluded that they are guided by ethical reasons. They complain about nepotism in Russian companies, whose bosses hire friends and subservient staff. The applicants, convinced that foreign companies do not have such problems, want to make a career in a foreign company.
An international food company has opened a snack factory in Pavlovsky Posad outside Moscow. The factory has modern equipment and hence few staff, but there are always crowds at the personnel department. Some want a job, while other are quitting because of high demands set to them. Their vacancies are quickly filled. The factory has been working for a year but the staff turnover rate has not declined. This could have bankrupted the factory in some other country, but in Russia it survives by offering a low pay for the trial period.
The situation on the Russian market of working trades is paradoxical. Low-paid guest workers readily fill in vacancies in the settlements that lack local personnel. The oversight council for management and development at the Moscow government says the number of non-Muscovites has reached 64% among construction workers and repair specialists and 40% among waiters and sellers. Two-thirds of them are registered as temporary staff. Businessmen do not spend money on improving their skills, preferring to sack the old and hire a new staff.
Other segments of the labor market have similar problems. Russia has enough skilled personnel of humanitarian professions: Medium-level HR managers, market, advertisement and PR specialists, and lawyers. But it is much more difficult to find highly skilled and experienced professionals in these sectors.
It is difficult to find experienced and promising specialists in any country, especially top personnel, says Iya Novikova, recruitment director at Staffwell Search. This is why foreign companies prefer to hire expats for managing posts, including in Russia.
Russia does not have enough specialists capable of working by Western standards. It is most difficult to find good analysts, corporate finance specialists and VIP managers in the banking and financial sector. But mentality is the main reason why recruiters prefer expats to Russian managers. It is easier for foreign founders and bosses to work with spiritually close people. A Russian specialist may know the local market better and have more extensive ties, but the foreign firm will most probably choose an expat for a key post.
The recent trend points to the reduction of jobs held by foreigners, and personnel specialists say foreign companies search for expats only when they cannot find a suitable candidate on the local labor market. Moreover, requirements to expats include the knowledge of Russian and an experience of working on the Russian market.
Foreign companies are not trying to take into account local mentality and customs and so are searching for Russians that resemble foreigners. Regina von Flemming, president of the international consulting company Flemming & Partner, works in Berlin and Moscow. One of her tasks is to explain to recruiters in Germany and Russia what qualities the candidates should have. She said German companies have a specific behavioral feature and the Russian staff should know what it means to work for German firms and how they differ from other foreign companies.
Iya Novikova of Staffwell Search says there are no foreign companies without a Russian staff on the Russian market. But specialists with Russian mentality find it more comfortable to work for American and European companies with an aggressive style. They offer market average or higher than average salaries to their staff and a possibility of a rapid career.
It is more difficult for Russians to adjust their mentality to the style of Asian, including Japanese, Indian and Vietnamese, companies. In addition to cultural specifics, which affect management style, and strict hierarchy, it is more difficult to get a salary rise or promotion in such companies. But Russians nevertheless want to work for these companies.