When hiring staff a company should look for young, local, skilled people with a large network. There are special skilled employees who are very sought-after, especially young professionnals with international and management experience. Salaries for these special skilled people are considerable higher. It is common that people lie about their educational level and their previous working experience.

The low costs for Russian employees in comparison to their counterparts in western Europe increase the pressure on expatriates still working in Russia. Hiring a foreign employee requires the company to obtain a permission to hire foreign employees and then apply for the individuals work permits.

Indefinite term contracts are the required way to recruit Russian labour force. There are only a few situations giving the possibility to employers to recruit in fixed term contracts; which are listed in the law. Trial periods of employment are common in Russia but they should not exceed three months, or six months for higher payed jobs. Limited employment contracts are a reasonable mean to reduce the risks of recruiting bad employees. But the Russian labor law is also strict in this area. The limitation is only allowed for one time.

On the contrary to most Eastern or Central European countries, sacking people in Russia is not easy, especially once the three-month trial period is completed. There is a high risk that the court judges the sacking illegal if the procedure is not strictly followed. The most strictly applied and costly termination ground is redundancy.

Redundancy is the most widespread reason for terminating labor contracts. The labor law states some demands for a lawful demission and it is important to meet all requirements. Otherwise, costs for lawsuit and unemployed time could add up and also the reputation of the company could be damaged.