International labor migration in the perm region: problems and perspectives

The article discusses the contemporary situation with international labor migration in the Perm region (Perm Krai). Though the international migration does not take a leading place in the migration processes in this region, it still has significant influence on the formation of the labor market. The paper analyzes data related to migration flows in the Perm region, as well as the results of focus groups with migrants from the CIS countries held in Perm as part of the project «Social risks of international youth migration in contemporary Russia». Among the participants of focus groups were citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. The results have revealed the main problems faced by foreign labor migrants. The most difficult problems were related with obtaining a labor patent (short deadlines and high costs), residence permit, unwillingness of employers to enter into an official labor contract with migrants, limited access to medical services, language barriers. At the same time, in the Perm region there is organized labor migration, making the process of receiving the required documents much easier; in such cases the employer is a large company, and all formal issues are resolved with the participation of intermediaries without any difficulties. The results of the study also show that Perm has a fairly successful experience of migrants social integration, in particular, there is a municipal program «Strengthening interethnic and interdenominational concord in Perm». The development of international labor migration should not only take into account economic factors but also should be supported by measures to integrate migrants, which involves effective and constructive interaction of self-government bodies and NGOs, including national public organizations, and state bodies.