Remote Work Format Will Remain After Pandemic Is Over

Distance work as a means of employment will not disappear after the coronavirus pandemic and will be developing not only in innovative industries, but in the real production sector, too, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in a video message to the participants in the Gaidar Forum, which opened on Thursday.

Mishustin cited a survey saying that the share of distance work in the spring and early summer of 2020 reached 10%-15%.

"Clearly, this format of employment will not disappear when this no simple period is over," he stated.

Mishustin said that the experience obtained as a result of distance work over the past few months would be incorporated in the Labor Code. "This is important, because we are witnesses to a global trend of inevitable changes in the labor market. Previous labor legislation was unable to take this into account," Mishustin said.

He stressed that digital technologies would promote distance work in the new industries first and foremost, "but as experience shows, in some traditional segments of real production the share of distance work is growing, too."

"Whereas during the coronavirus pandemic distance work was partially a forced measure, in the longer term it will be an economic imperative. It is essential to ensure this should be based on specific criteria of effectiveness and labor productivity," Mishustin said.

He drew attention to the role of digital technologies in improving the level of support for those who lost jobs during the pandemic. On the list of positive social results Mishustin mentioned the reduction of the shadow labor market and of latent unemployment.