At the current stage, we are facing an unsure situation with diverging movements. On one hand, the nationwide vacation is expected to be prolonged after April 30th due to the surge in infections. A rising number of factories are forced to freeze their operations while others are trying to minimise costs by optimising production. The pressure on some companies is continously increasing to consider dismissing their employees and sectors like automotive are struggling to receive parts from Europé, which are necessary for their production to continue.

Gladly, on the other side, we also see that the companies are trying to avoid dismissals by putting their staff on vacation or reduce the weekly working hours. Food retail had significant volumes in March due to many people stocking up products. And also companies in the region are slowly starting to get back to work again. Even though it is estimated that Russia will reach its peak in late May, the overall tenor when we speak with our clients and business contacts is optimistic. Yes, it is a very uncertain situation, but a volatile market like Russia is used to adaptation and staying agile. Another positive effect is the rise of digital transformation and home office, which is still underdeveloped in most companies. The business will go on, and companies are even hiring and preparing to go back to full speed as soon as possible. For us at The Taplow Group, Russia this situation is an opportunity that provides us the perfect window to utilize our efficient process and capability to work with digital solutions to contact candidates and conduct interviews from wherever we are and deliver the best quality in time!

Henric Nilsson, Managing Partner, The Taplow Group Russia