The new private sector in the Russian labour market

The new private sector in Russia has become a major provider of new jobs, but few of the jobs on offer make substantial demands on the skills of the Russian population and they provide them with very few opportunities further to improve their skills. While pay levels are generally higher than in the state and former state sector, they are not sufficient to make employment in the new private sector a universally attractive proposition. While the new private sector has an important role to play in the Russian economy, even after the crisis of August 1998, its growth is no substitute for the long postponed rejuvenation of the industry, construction, transport and communications that lay at the heart of the Soviet economy and have been barely touched by the expansion of the new private sector.