Belarus Amidst Most Massive Dismissal Of Workers

Over 633 thousand employees have been “optimized”.

Record layoffs of workers are observed in Belarus, writes Banki24.by. People are fired much more often than a year earlier; moreover, they are fired more often than new employees are hired.

In January-October 2021, employers in large and medium-sized organizations laid off 633.9 thousand people. During the same time, the number of those hired amounted to 575.9 thousand.

Thus, on a net basis, staffing outflow from flagship enterprises reached 58 thousand people. Compare: for 10 months of 2020, the outflow of personnel amounted to 31.4 thousand people.

In addition to the absolute indicators of the labor market, in comparison with the last year, the relative ones also worsened. The replacement rate of laid-off workers hired in 2020 was 94.9%, and in 2021 it fell to 90.9%.

The replacement rate shows how many workers were hired on average instead of every 100 laid off. If this ratio is less than 100%, then there is an outflow of personnel in the labor market, if more than 100% - an inflow.

In 2021, the number of those dismissed increased due to the liquidation of the organization or personnel optimization. According to the results of 10 months of 2020, there were 3.8 thousand people on the flagships, and in 10 months of 2021 there were 6.1 thousand. Hrodna and Vitsebsk regions took the lead in the dismissed after liquidation or optimization.

Also, in the current year, employers have become slightly more likely to fire for absenteeism and other disciplinary violations. In January-October 2020, there were 30.9 thousand of such flagships, and in 2021 - 31.3 thousand. The workers of the Minsk region stand out in this regard - 6.2 thousand laid off in 10 months.

In Minsk, over 10 months of 2021, 154.6 thousand people were dismissed, in the Brest region - 82 thousand, in the Vitsebsk region - 72.1 thousand, in the Homel region - 85.2 thousand, in the Hrodna region - 71.1 thousand, in the Minsk region - 101.6 thousand, and in the Mahiliou region - 67.3 thousand. In none of the territories there was an influx of personnel for the flagship enterprises. In Minsk, the replacement rate was 89.7%, and in regions it varied from 90.1% in the Vitsebsk region to 93% in the Homel region.

Important to note, the Belarusian Workers' Association announced on November 3 that mass layoffs are in full swing in Belarus, which are hidden under the guise of “optimization”. This is a preparatory stage for the predatory privatization of the Belarusian enterprises.