8.7 Role play Unemployment in Russia

Situation

You participate in the international conference on the problems of unemployment and are invited to take part in the general debate. The question under discussion is the situation with unemployment in Russia and its impact on labour market.

What you must discuss:

Consider the major issues associated with the situation in Russia and try to find the ways of dealing with unemployment. How can the social protection system that exists in Russia be compared to what happens in Europe, in the United States? Would you say it’s probably worse to be unemployed in Russia than in one of these other countries?

Work in groups (Chairman, Participants A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H).

Chairman

You act as a chairman at the debate. Make the participants share their opinion about the unemployment in Russia. Firstly you introduce the question for debate by saying that the unemployment is certainly a big issue in Russia these days. You also emphasize that official unemployment in Russia is at about 1.5 million people. The labour force is about 75 million people. The unemployment figure is not that frightening, it’s basically okay. However the real figure might be quite different from that calculated by the Ministry of Health and Social Development on the basis of job requests at the Labour Office. The other issue worth considering is the state of employee. Some have an official contract with the employer, some have contract but with certain conditions, and others would just have grey salaries. Also, many unemployed people never turn to Labour Office.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• That’s what we are going to be talking about.

• How you would evaluate Russia’s current level of unemployment?

• So, let’s look at the figures

• Let’s go straight down to business….

• As we know today we shall be looking at ... .

• Could you tell us your impressions of ... ?

• Could you say what you consider to be the main reason for ... ?

• What’s your attitude to ... ?

• What can you say in explanation of ... ?

• Let’s summarize what we’ve said so far … .

Participant A

You have studied the problem and your research shows that in the US people go to the unemployment offices and file an application, because they get some bonus, some help while looking for work. In Russia, however, this is not something people do because it doesn’t go along with the mentality, and also the money you get is not worth much at all. Also, whenever you go to this Labour office, they put a line in your registration book that you’re actually unemployed. This concept of registration book needs some clarification. In the US, you just have your job resume, where you list all the jobs, except maybe for those really short-term and not important. Imagine you are applying for a position in advertising, and at some point at a time you worked in a restaurant or as a bus boy – you don’t put those on your resume. In Russia, when you are officially employed, you have all the records of your employments in your workbook. This is one reason why many Russians reject certain jobs or do not go to the employment office.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• I would like to draw particular attention to….

• On the contrary….

• As you can see….

• Let me explain the situation to you … .

• As far as I know … .

• I must admit … .

• My own view is … .

Participant B

You want to say that the official figure of 2% unemployed in Russia might be misleading, and may also serve as a tool for manipulation, because people would look at it and think everything is fine with the Russian economy. Normal unemployment rate in developed countries is around 5-6%, so you immediately understand this figure of 2% is not real. Then, if you compare it with Europe, or, especially, with America, where unemployment rate is about 9 %, you would clearly see for yourself. Again, you have to bear in mind that there are part-time workers, who cannot be related to as having a job in a classical sense, but still they don’t count when determining the unemployment rate. 

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• Let’s go back to that official figure….

• I would rely on….

• One of the things is … .

• You will realize of course … .

• Well, that’s another matter.

• In my opinion … .

Participant C

You think it should be mentioned that there are two different formulae for calculating unemployment. They are: registered unemployment and estimated unemployment, which reflect real unemployment in Russia. And the difference between the two numbers is that 1.5 million, which is official unemployment, are those who have registered as unemployed, and 5.1 million people which is the International Labour Organization (ILO) number, is the number of people which are estimated to be unemployed in Russia. So, why do we actually need two different methods of calculation. The one to judge about the trends in the economy is the ILO number, the other on which the budget expenditure is calculated as on paying unemployment benefit to people who are unemployed is the official number, so you need the two.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• As you can see

• If we look at

• It makes sense for us to … .

• As things stand, … .

• I totally agree … .

 

Participant D

You want to clarify that people have a choice whether or not to be registered as unemployed. If they don’t want, they don’t register. But they should still be counted as being unemployed because this just shows that there are structural problems in the economy, when the government probably needs to invest more into infrastructure, to allow people to be more flexible in choosing their next employment. You also think that the government undertakes to provide the unemployed with certain benefits and offers quite a lot of options for people to find a temporary employment or improve their qualification, but it’s mostly for the workers, for the low-income part of the population.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• You have to bear in mind

• What do you think of … ?

• Well, that’s another matter.

• I am inclined to think … .

• As an alternative … .

• Let me doubt ... .

Participant E

You suggest that you should focus everybody’s attention on the issue that there are certain sectors where unemployment is prevalent. In Russia the difference in the rate of unemployment is not by the sector, but mainly by the region. Regional differences are huge, close 2% unemployment in Moscow compared to maybe 40% unemployment in the South of Russia. Certain regions of Russia have certain industries, associated with them, so unemployment can’t go lower from its current level without any structural improvements in the economy, development of some other industries and modernization. There should be government policies to improve the economy of the distant regions and the government should focus on these regions more and more. So it’s really one of the structural problems.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• It’s obvious that

• If you ask me … .

• I mean to say … .

• I dare say … .

• I want to make it clear that … .

Participant F

You want to add that the current rate of unemployment somewhat reflects the economic situation in Russia, and the current unemployment rate is 6.8 %, or 5.1 million people, as estimated by the ILO. One question to discuss is whether the government should intervene or not. On the one hand, there has always been unemployment, and it is just a normal situation on the market. The market regulates itself, and workers will always be looking for bigger salaries, while the employers would be seeking to pay less. However, economic theory is so abstract, it doesn’t take into consideration many factors. One British economist believed that the unemployment follows circular pattern, just like economy: development, recession and crisis. His idea was that the government should intervene only during the recession. America found a great way to fight unemployment though engaging people in building roads. It created a lot of workplaces without creating the excessive product.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• I would say we might see….

• It’s beyond doubt that

• And we can hardly ignore it.

• This is the way I look at it.

• In conclusion I'd like to say that … .

 

Participant G

You work in the Centre for Strategic research at the Academy of National Economy and you’d like to stress that there are several reasons for unemployment. Maybe the most visible is the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis. Many people in Russia lost their jobs during the crisis. Of course people become unemployed all the time, changing their jobs, companies closing up and opening. Besides, there are reasons of unfinished structural reformation of many industries and enterprises in Russia. Some industries have undergone structural adjustments in terms of employment, but some of them are still undergoing this process. There may be some unemployment in some extractive industries, at the same time several enterprises have significantly reduced the number of employers during the previous years, so it depends on industry, on particular enterprise. It’s obvious that the government should be intervening in the situation, helping unemployed people. It has made significant efforts to develop anti-crisis plans. Some measures were devoted exactly to labour market vulnerabilities and social packages, but at the same time government provided some finance and credit to regions and key enterprises there, single industry towns, which will be receiving subsidies and other forms of government support. The government of Russia provided significant social support packages in the last years.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• You have to bear in mind

• It’s obvious that

• One of the things is … .

• You will realize of course … .

• In my opinion …

• In conclusion I would like to say … ..

Participant H

You mention that if we want to compare the social protection system that exists in Russia to what happens in Europe, in the United States we should compare all basic macroeconomic indicators, the standards of living. It is also necessary to take into account the level of people’s savings. If you live in a remote part of Russia, and there is one key enterprise in a single industry town, and the enterprise is facing difficulties, where can you find employment? At the same time, you don’t have any significant savings. So, basically, the worker should be more inclined to actively look for a job. Russians just don’t seem to bother that much about unemployment. In the US it was on the news all the time, while Russians were mostly worried about losing their own job.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• It’s obvious that

• If we look at

• I would say we might see….

• You may argue that…

• One question I would like to discuss is

• It’s obvious that

• It is hard to compare

• If we look at…