Putin has doubled the overtime limit for Russians due to a labor shortage

Russian dictator Putin has signed a law that doubles the maximum limit on overtime for citizens—from 120 to 240 hours per year. This move is aimed at addressing the acute labor shortage in the Russian economy, which has arisen amid mobilization, mass recruitment of contract soldiers, emigration, and a significant outflow of migrant workers.

This was reported by the Russian State Duma’s website.

The new limit will replace the 120-hour cap, which has been in effect for over 50 years, dating back to the Soviet era. In addition, the document lifts the current ban on recalling employees from hazardous and dangerous industries from their vacations in the event that emergency situations need to be prevented. The approved amendments to the Russian Labor Code are set to take effect on September 1, 2026.

The explanatory note to the law states that doubling the overtime limit will help offset the need to create 48,800 additional jobs. The authors of the document claim that about 90% of Russians are willing to work overtime, with 28% doing so solely for the sake of additional income (mandatory double pay is provided starting from the 121st hour). The initiative was proposed by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, whose experts predict that the country’s labor shortage will grow to 3 million people by the end of the decade. Currently, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics, the Russian economy is already short about 1.5 million workers, and demographers are calling the situation in the labor market “the new normal for the decade” due to a record drop in the birth rate and an aging population.

After three years of unexpected economic growth, Russia is facing a sudden slowdown—war costs, inflation, and falling oil prices have begun to weigh on an economy that until recently seemed resilient to sanctions.

Consumer lending in Russia has fallen to a six-year low.