Digital Technologies In Employment Of Migrant Workers

Abstract

Digital economy literature has discussed how the adoption of the Government as a Platform (GaaP) can help public administration to produce more efficient public services. Since international migration is a sphere that needs a lot of transformation in its regulation more research is needed to analyse how the GaaP can help the government to deliver public services that fulfil expectations of migrant workers and employers that use foreign labour force. The article describes digital form of communication between migrant workers, employers and state agencies in the sphere of employment. The basic research methods were the analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of the digital economy in the field of employment facilities, the analysis of domestic legal acts on migration management in the Russian Federation. The use of electronic employment records and electronic (digital) working contract for migrant workers as well as creation of unified system for working contract accounting are offered for discussion. Advantages of the technological tools for basic stakeholders are presented. While the extent to which migrant workers will be employed in the digital economy of Russia is unknown, it is recommended that government systems established for digital platforms should be sensitive to protection needs of all workers, and also recognize the specific protection needs of migrant workers.

Keywords: GaaPmigration managementmigrant workers

Introduction

Migrant workers constitute a sizeable share of the labour force in the key countries of destination. Russian Federation (RF) is an active participant in migration exchange and the largest center of immigration after United States, Germany and Saudi Arabia (World Migration Report, 2020). The main reason of foreign citizens’ arrival on the territory of the Russian Federation is work. Russia has a visa-free entry regime with a number of CIS countries, which makes it attractive for migrant workers from these states. Features of modern demographic development (depopulation in Russia against the population growth in Central Asian countries), civil conflicts in neighboring countries and the globalization of the labour market also contribute to the fact that Russia is a center of attraction for labour force.

According to the World Bank (2020), remittances are making up 29 per cent of GDP in Kyrgyz Republic, 28 per cent in Tajikistan, 10 per cent in Ukraine, and 7 per cent in Uzbekistan. Thus, the future of work in Central Asian countries and states of Eurasian Economic Union cannot be discussed without taking into account the role, contribution, and protection needs of migrant workers.

At the same time, rapid technological changes transform the world of work and employment (Bounfour, 2016; Kapranova, 2018; Smithies, 2017). New advances in technology, including internet of things, robotics and digital platforms will influence employment in a variety of ways. The nature of employment – how people look for work, how they are interviewed for a job, and how they sign a working contract – is also actively being reshaped by new technologies and by the policies that shape their application.

Problem Statement

Analysis of a number of studies concerning migrant workers in Russia showed that their labour rights are systematically violated by both employers and migrants themselves (Human Rights Watch, 2009; Human Rights Watch, 2013; Human Rights Watch, 2017). Unreported or illegal employment is the main reason of such violations.

According to some research papers (Bezborodova & Skrebtsova, 2011; Neklyudova & Ilinbaewa, 2017; Stepanov, 2016; Vasilyeva, 2017) the level of illegal migration in Russia can be estimated at 30-60%. One of the main reasons of illegal working migration is complicated procedure of employment. Firstly, there are some main categories of labour migrants:

• temporary migrants from countries that have visa regime of entry to Russia;

• temporarily migrants from countries that have visa-free regime of entry to Russia;

• citizens of Eurasian Economic Union countries;

• highly qualified specialists;

• foreign citizens with temporary residence permit;

• foreign citizens with permanent residence permit.

Each category has specific rules of employment different from other categories.

Secondly, Russian government developed a huge body of legislation and other legal acts regulating the sphere of external labour migration. There are more than 100 Federal laws and 50 presidential decrees; more than 50 resolutions and orders of the Government of the Russian Federation; more than 65 instructions and orders of relevant ministries and departments that contain explanations for employment of foreign citizens. There is no unified migration code that regulates the issues of labor migration. It is difficult for both employers and employees to slice and dice the peculiar features of employment.

The third reason for all these problems is the imperfect and uncompetitive state management system.

Research Questions

To improve the efficiency of administrative procedures in the field of labour migration regulation, as well as to prevent violations of the migration legislation of the Russian Federation, the use of modern digital technologies and information technology tools is becoming increasingly important. Therefore, the study raised the following questions.

• How can digital technologies be used for regulation migrants’ employment procedure?

• How these technologies can be applied?

• What are advantages and opportunities of new technological tools for migrant workers, Russian government and employers?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to present the scheme of electronic form of interaction between 1) foreign citizens engaged in labour market of the Russian Federation, 2) employers that use labour force and 3) state bodies regulating labour migration. Introduction of electronic working contracts for migrants and creation of the unified system for working contracts accounting are also proposed.

Research Methods

In the context of increasing speed of technological and economic changes in the world, the Russian system of public administration is facing increasingly diverse and complex tasks, but it is not ready to solve them (Andreeva et al., 2018; Aptekman et al., 2017). In order to ensure Russia's long-term competitiveness, a new system of public administration must be created that will become the technological, normative and cultural basis for future development. The role of such a framework can be played by the "Government-as-a-Platform" (GaaP, Platform) – a qualitatively new system for organizing and performing the functions of public authorities of the Russian Federation, built on the basis of integrated and digitized processes and advanced technologies (Cordella & Paletti, 2019; Petrov et al., 2018). The State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation for 2019–2025 (2018) also calls for the introduction of electronic forms of interaction and the expansion of the use of modern digital technologies in order to provide public services in the field of migration.

Findings

The presented procedure has many advantages for all stakeholders.

Conclusion

In the digital age, there is an increased reliance on the smart technologies as a means of dealing with employment in a more efficient manner. Governments have slowly started to move away from traditional methods of administration to digital based platforms. This allows for innovation and development in the sphere of human resources.

Due to rapid technological changes, employment contracts can now be concluded electronically. Although electronic employment contracts are just a small part of digital economy, they have a number of benefits and are becoming increasingly important. This tool is beneficial for all parties: an employee, an employer and the state. It is cost effective and time efficient.

Although there are no specific laws on electronic employment contracts nowadays, the promulgation of such digital tool can help to clarify the situation and will enable parties to enter into electronic employment contracts with more ease.

References

• Andreeva, G. N., Badalyants, S. V., Bogatyreva, T. G., Boroday, V. A., & Dudkina, O. V. (2018). The development of the digital economy in Russia as a key factor in economic growth and improving the quality of life of the population. Professional Science. [in Rus.]
• Aptekman, A., Kalabin, V., Klincov, V., Kuznecova, E., Kulagin, V., & Yasenovec, I. (2017). Digital Russia: a new reality. http://www.tadviser.ru/images/c/c2/Digital-Russia-report.pdf [in Rus.]
• Bezborodova, Т. М., & Skrebtsova, А. А. (2011). Diskriminaciya migrantov v social'no-trudovoj sfere: prichiny i puti preodoleniya [Migrants undepriviledged in social and labour area: Cause and way out]. Herald of Omsk University. Economy, 1, 81-89.
• Bounfour, A. (2016). Digital Futures, Digital Transformation. Springer. https://doi.org/10/1007/978-3-319-23279-9
• Cordella, A., & Paletti, A. (2019). Government as a platform, orchestration, and public value creation: The Italian case. Government information quarterly, 36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2019.101409
• Human Rights Watch (2009). Are You Happy to Cheat Us? Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in Russia. https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/02/10/are-you-happy-cheat-us/exploitation-migrant-construction-workers-russia
• Human Rights Watch (2013). Race to the bottom exploitation of migrant workers ahead of Russia’s 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/russia0213_ForUpload.pdf
• Human Rights Watch (2017). Russia/FIFA: Workers Exploited on World Cup 2018 Stadiums. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/14/russia/fifa-workers-exploited-world-cup-2018-stadiums
• Kapranova, L. (2018). The Digital Economy in Russia: Its State and Prospects of Development. Economics, taxes & law, 11, 58-69. https://doi.org/10.26794/1999-849X-2018-11-2-58-69 [in Rus.]
• Neklyudova, N. P., & Ilinbaewa, E. A. (2017). Ocenka poter' byudzheta regiona ot nelegal'noj trudovoj migracii (na primere Sverdlovskoj oblasti) [Estimation of regional budget losses from illegal labor migration (on the example of the Sverdlovsk region)]. Tomsk State University Journal of Economics, 37, 206-215. https://doi.org/10.17223/19988648/37/15
• Petrov, M., Burov, V., Shklyaruk, M., & Sharov, A. (2018). The government as a Platform. A (cyber) state for the digital economy . The Center for Strategic Research, 1, 1-48. https://doi.org/10.24411/9999-005A-2018-00006
• Smithies, J. (2017). The Digital Humanities and the Digital Modern. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-49944-8
• State Migration Policy Concept of the Russian Federation for 2019–2025 (2018). Approved by the Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation N 622 of October 31, 2018. http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/news/58986
• Stepanov, A. (2016). The Migration Legal Status Of Foreigners In The Russian Federation. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Pravo, 84-97. https://doi.org/10.17223/22253513/22/10
• Vasilyeva, A.V. (2017). The Forecast of Labour Migration, Reproduction of the Population and Economic Development of Russia. Economy of Region, 13, 812-826. https://doi.org/10.17059/2017-3-14
• World Bank. (2020). Migration and Remittances Data 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/migrationremittancesdiasporaissues/brief/migration-remittances-data
• World Migration Report (2020). Geneva, IOM.