According to the Get Experts review, cited by the RBC website, in 2025, every fourth company reduced jobs, while in 2023 only 10 percent declared such a step. employers.
Enterprises that previously increased employment due to import substitution, digitalization and new projects, they are now going into survival mode: they cut expenses, put plans on hold and try to get rid of employees they previously hired with an eye to future growth.
The first signals appeared already in 2024, when large corporations began to announce reductions, including VKontakte (VK), the largest Russian social networking site, often referred to as “Russian Facebook” and Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), the largest telecommunications operator in Russia. In 2025, this trend gained momentum and covered a significant part of the market. According to expert forecasts, 2026 will be a year of cuts and savings.
For example, employment was reduced in 14 credit institutions, including the largest banks: VTB Bank and Sberbank. Moreover, the latter dismissed 20 percent. employees.
Currently, employment optimization has become a permanent trend on the labor marketas employers try to limit expenses in the face of an economic slowdown, declining turnover and rising costs, experts note. — Large enterprises no longer pretend that they can keep their teams unchanged indefinitely, ignoring strategy, efficiency and changes in the external environment, explains Marina Tarnopolskaya, managing partner at the Russian consulting company Kontakt InterSearch.
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This problem it is most severe in the IT, fintech, digital marketing and consulting industries — areas that were actively developing after the start of the war and hiring expensive specialists for future projects, but are now unable to maintain current levels of spending.
— Regionally, this problem is more visible in the metropolises of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk, where the concentration of such companies is the highest, notes Tatyana Podolska, an expert from the Russian Presidential Academy.
Layoffs “without severance pay and hysteria”
At the same time, employers are increasingly trying to persuade employees to leave “of their own free will” or by agreement of the parties, to avoid paying significant compensation.
According to Wiktoria Rybalko, senior partner of the “Szczegłow i partners” law firm, “in the last six to nine months” this is particularly the case with qualified, highly paid employees who were once invited to implement complex projects. She added that most reports come from technical specialists dealing with the digitization of business processes.
Lawyers from the BLS law firm, which specializes in labor law, confirm the sharp increase in the number of employee conflicts and court disputes, which “are becoming a permanent background for business.” According to them, layoffs have always been difficult, but now the moral aspect of this issue has faded into the background. Nevertheless, 71 percent cases, courts side with workers, the BLS notes.
According to expert forecasts companies will continue to massively reduce costs and staff. — The year 2026 will be spent searching for answers to the question of how to fire an employee, preferably without severance pay, and so that even if he falls into hysterics, he will do so outside the office, sums up the HR specialist.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
