Senior management labor market: from economic growth to crisis. The case of Russia

This paper presents an analysis of changes in senior management labor market in Russia during the 2000s. The original data consists of information on the appointments of 5771 senior managers in Russia from late 1999 until 2009. The study focuses on mobility between economic sectors, and managerial positions, human capital, including education and experience and the proportion of women and expats in the senior management market. We found that the Russian labor market of top-level managers can be described as a relatively closed market, where professional executives dominate. During the period of economic growth Russian companies preferred to hire outsiders partly due to the lack of appropriate internal candidates. The typical senior manager in Russia is a 30-40 years old man with a degree in economics, engineering, or science, who moves every 2-3 years to their next executive position. The most significant changes, noted during the crisis, were the increase of the firms’ demand for senior managers’ specific human capital and the decrease of demand for general human capital.