In russia, vacations at one's own expense have become new norm for 4 million workers - intelligence

In 2025, the aggressor country of russia recorded a further expansion of the scale of hidden unemployment. The total number of part-time employees at large and medium-sized enterprises increased by 12% annually - to 5.5 million people. This is stated in the report of the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIC) of Ukraine.

According to intelligence, the growth covered all categories of part-time employment. The largest group is made up of employees sent on unpaid leave - 4 million people (+9%). Another 1.3 million people work part-time by agreement of the parties (+13%). At the same time, the fastest growth rates were demonstrated by employees on layoffs - their number increased by 165 thousand, or 1.6 times, as well as employees transferred to part-time work at the initiative of the employer - plus 69,000, which means an eight-fold increase.

The highest level of part-time employment in 2025 was recorded in the hotel and restaurant business - 34%, manufacturing - 27% and construction - 23%. The largest absolute increase was in the manufacturing industry: the number of part-time employees in the sector increased by 265,000 people, or 20.5%.

Signals of further weakening of the labor market persist at the beginning of 2026. In January, about 10% of companies reported staff reductions, another 12% - reduced working hours to optimize costs.

"The growth of part-time employment actually masks the scale of the economic recession. Formally, the unemployment rate remains low, but the actual reduction in production capacity and the decline in employee incomes indicate systemic problems. Such a model allows maintaining the appearance of stability, but at the same time preserves technological backwardness: instead of investing in automation, businesses direct resources to maintaining a cheap but low-efficiency workforce," the intelligence agency emphasizes.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, according to intelligence data, by 2040 russia will turn into a "society of pensioners."

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