RANEPA expert: shortage of workers and demography hinder the transition to a four-day period in Russia 
a working week in Russia in the near future is impossible, there is a shortage of workers and demography. Viktor Lyashok, a researcher at the Institute for Social Analysis and Forecasting, RANEPA, said this within the framework of the New Society project.
As the expert notes, official unemployment has dropped to a level that was recorded before the coronavirus pandemic, and the number of vacancies has increased. Employers do not have enough specialists anyway, and for the most part they will not want to lose one more day. “In addition, our number of employees will continue to decline for demographic reasons in the next five years,” the expert recalled.
In his opinion, professions with flexible employment conditions will be the first in the world to switch to four-day employment, for example, those that are now working on a remote basis. This includes employees in the IT sector and financial insurance. But teachers will most likely be the last to transfer, because then the children will have to be deprived of one day of classes.
In Russia, Lyashok noted, the trends will coincide with global trends, and the role of pioneers will be taken by private companies, not state-owned companies.
“Our state-owned companies are the main drivers [of economic growth], I think, to do this ( to introduce a four-day period – approx. “Lenta.ru” ) nobody will. For example, the banking system is the state sector, as well as the oil and gas industry. If the major giants of the market begin to transition, it will severely undermine the Russian economy. It is unlikely that the state can, in principle, seriously stimulate the labor market in this regard, “the expert believes.
He added that in the next ten years the phenomenon is unlikely to become widespread, but in the 2030s, when the number workers for demographic reasons will grow, it will be possible to make specific forecasts and plans to reduce working hours.
Earlier, a survey of the online job search service SuperJob showed that a third of Russians (34 percent) are afraid of the introduction of a four-day period due to the expected reduction income. Another 44 percent of respondents supported the idea. At the same time, 63 percent of the respondents said that they could do about the same amount of work in four working days as in five. The opposite opinion is shared by 24 percent.
The prospect of switching to a four-day working week has become one of the central themes of the New Society cycle, a large-scale project of Lenta.ru dedicated to the changes that have already begun in Russia or will occur in the coming decades. They talk about the attitude of Russians to the environment, consumption processes, work schedules and the impact of society on climate change.