Attracting foreigners to work in Russia: A review of past experiences

Abstract

Introduction. During different historical periods, the purposes, forms of employing foreigners, rules and regulations of attracting them, and their forms had distinctive features. The author formulates the aim of the research. Based on a problem-chronological approach, a classification of the main stages in attracting foreign labour to Russia is presented. Materials and methods. It is noted that the study is interdisciplinary in nature and is based on the use of historical methods and the method of retrospective analysis. A brief description of the degree of knowledge of the topic is given. The author identifies three areas of research: works that consider individual socio-economic aspects of the development of the Russian state in different historical periods; works devoted to foreigners, the evolution of their legal status and role in the history of the Russian state and society; historical and demographic studies that allow the use of data on population migration. Results. Based on the problem-chronological approach, three periods (stages) in attracting foreign labour to Russia can be distinguished: from the formation of the Old Russian state to the end of the 17th century, Russia during the Empire period, and the Soviet period. Each period can be distinguished by certain bursts of activity (waves), characterized by an increase in the number of foreigners, as well as a change in the forms of their involvement in work. During the period from the moment the Old Russian state was formed to the end of the 17th century, the attraction of foreigners was determined mainly by trade and economic relations, the very concept of “foreigner” did not have a clear legal definition. During the period of the Russian Empire, the number of foreigners coming to work in Russia mainly depended on the foreign policy situation, the forms of attraction and the geography of migrants’ origin changed. During the Soviet period, the attraction of foreign technical specialists and workers dominated in order to solve important socio-economic problems of the country. In the post-war decades, this process had a pronounced ideological context. Discussion. The main conclusions are presented. A retrospective analysis allows us to distinguish three research periods, each of which has temporary stages (waves) characterized by an increase in the presence of foreign labour migrants, as well as the presence of certain forms of attracting to work.

Keywords

• labour migration management
• foreigners
• labour migrants
• labour
• retrospective analysis
• russia