“We’re losing money.” Sociologists from the EU noted the return of masses of relocants to the Russian Federation | People | Society

Russians who left the country after the start of the special operation in Ukraine began to return to their homeland, reports the British edition of the Financial Times. This phenomenon is associated with a deterioration in the quality of life abroad, as well as with the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the publication, 820 thousand people have left Russia since 2022. At the same time, 15% of them (about 120 thousand people) have already returned, and the rest may do so in the near future.

Emil Kamalov And Ivetta Sergeeva from the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence analyzed the outflow of Russian emigrants from abroad and noted that we are talking about the most educated, politically active and young Russians.

Received a Western education, but they don’t take me anywhere

British media talked about the Russian Egor Gazarovwho received a top European education while living in Russia, but this did not help him find work abroad.

“He speaks fluent English, has a degree in business administration from the Paris Business School, and spent the first decade of his career steadily rising through the ranks at the Boston Consulting Group and Procter & Gamble,” says the Financial Times. The young man left for Armenia, hoping for further career growth in the West or the Middle East, but it turned out that no one was going to offer him a worthy position.

“I came to the conclusion that, in fact, job opportunities abroad are not at all as good as they might seem,” Egor shared.

The situation of the Russians who left became even more complicated after the escalation of conflicts in Israel and Armenia. Coincidentally, these were the countries that received a large number of Russians.

More than 35,000 Russians left for the country last year, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel, the largest Jewish NGO.

Armenia even ended up in third place among the most popular destinations for relocation after Kazakhstan and Serbia. However, after the escalation of the Karabakh conflict and the attempts of some to blame Moscow for this, some of the displaced people felt anti-Russian sentiments.

Also, as emphasized in the British media, many decided to return due to hostility and suspicious attitude towards the Russians. They give as an example President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavelwho called on security services to “keep an eye on” all Russians in Western countries, alluding to the internment of Japanese in the United States during World War II.

“It turns out that life goes on, business develops”

“There is a limited circle of contacts abroad. It seems that the situation is very difficult, that everyone has left Russia. But when you return, you realize that this is not true. Life goes on, business develops,” said the 29-year-old financial technology specialist Nikita Kiktenkowhich never took root in Kyrgyzstan, having lost money and status.

A 31-year-old industrial designer named Gregory said that he and his wife could not last several weeks in Kazakhstan.

The State Duma drew attention to the Financial Times material about the trend towards the return of Russians. According to Deputy and TV presenter of VGTRK Evgeniy PopovRussian companies do not see the need to preserve good jobs for those who have gone abroad for an indefinite period.

“People are no longer ready to jump from place to place in search of a better life than in Russia. What is most interesting is that young specialists are returning to the more profitable Russian labor market – our technology companies are actively filling vacancies for managers with high salaries, vacated by specialists who have left. This is the turnover of personnel,” wrote Evgeny Popov in his Telegram channel.

According to official Russian estimates, not 15% of relocants returned to Russia, but at least half.

“Fifty percent, according to our conservative estimates, have already returned. This process continues, but if someone wants to live in another place, for God’s sake,” said President Vladimir Putin back in the summer, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

In 2022, according to the Russian Association of Electronic Communications, up to 70 thousand IT specialists left Russia. It seemed that holders of such professions could adapt to life in any country by working remotely. However, it was this category of Russians who were the first to reach their homeland. According to government estimates, about 85% of computer workers have returned to the country.