Russia’s military industry is floundering due to personnel shortages and low salaries

By August 2025, the Russian military-industrial complex’s interest in new employees had significantly decreased — the deepest decline since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.

This is stated in an investigation published by Novaya Gazeta. Europe.

Journalists conducted a large-scale analysis of the labor market, paying attention to vacancies posted on the hh.ru platform. The study collected data on all advertisements published from January 2022 to August 31, 2025. Then, from the general array, they selected those belonging to enterprises involved in the direct provision of the front.

In total, journalists identified 1,266 companies operating in the military-industrial complex. Over the three years of full-scale invasion, these structures posted more than 577,000 vacancies.

The analysis showed that the most active recruitment in the industry took place in the first year of the war. Thus, in August 2022, the share of vacancies in the military-industrial complex was almost 2% of all advertisements on the platform. For comparison, in the summer of 2025, the number of vacancies from defense enterprises was only 34.5 thousand – a significant decrease compared to previous years.

Interestingly, even before the invasion began, in January 2022, the intensity of hiring in the defense sector was higher than it is today.

The material also points to another important trend: with the start of a large-scale state order in 2022–2023, a rapid increase in salaries began in the military-industrial complex, which led to a shortage of personnel and fueled inflationary processes.

However, by the spring of 2025, the level of salaries had stabilized, and the dynamics of their growth had stopped. Moreover, the average salary indicated in new vacancies decreased by approximately 10% compared to 2024.

The exception is drone and missile manufacturers – in these segments, the opposite trend is observed: salaries for new employees continue to grow.

Recall that the Russian economy actually stopped growing in the second quarter of 2025.

As reported, Russian Railways’ freight transportation is showing a steady decline, indicating serious problems in the country’s economy . The drop in volumes has affected several strategically important areas at once, from energy to agriculture.

In addition, the Russian IT sector, due to sanctions, has lost access to Western technologies , which is why it is experiencing a systemic crisis.

By the way, the European Union’s new sanctions against Russia will affect the energy sector, the financial sector, and will also limit the export of certain goods.

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