The labour market of Russia's Kaliningrad exclave amid COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has swept across the globe, is a serious challenge to the Russian labour market. This article examines the consequences of COVID-19 for Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and how its territorially isolated and lockdownaffected small labour market responds to drastic changes in employment, income, and consumption. Another question is how the immigrant-rich labour market will rebalance the supply-demand equation. Official statistics from the regional government and its subordinate bodies show that the Kaliningrad regional labour market has been severely battered by shutdown measures. This particularly applies to organisations operating in the most sensitive industries: manufacturing, hospitality, tourism, estate, transport, and warehousing. The unemployment has gone up, reaching a level above the national average; the number of vacancies is dwindling. Keeping the proportion of out-of-the-region workforce at the usual level may aggravate the situation. Although effective, the measures taken by the regional authorities seem insufficient for an isolated regional labour market.