Employment by Sector
Region | % Labour Force | |||
Industrial | Agricultural | Services | % Russian mean Services | |
North-west | 45 | 6 | 50 | 119 |
Central | 44 | 7 | 49 | 117 |
Far East | 44 | 10 | 46 | 110 |
East Siberia | 45 | 12 | 43 | 102 |
West Siberia | 44 | 13 | 43 | 102 |
Northern | 49 | 7 | 43 | 102 |
RUSSIAN MEAN | 43 | 15 | 42 | 100 |
North Caucasus | 38 | 21 | 41 | 98 |
Urals | 47 | 13 | 40 | 95 |
Volga | 45 | 16 | 39 | 93 |
Volgo-Vyatka | 46 | 15 | 39 | 93 |
Central Black Earth | 41 | 21 | 38 | 90 |
Source: VCIOM Nationwide surveys 1997. |
The Soviet system was intended to industrialize Russia and it succeeded; industrial workers remain today the largest group in the labour force. Insofar as agricultural workers are employed in "factory-like" collective farms, the proportion of wage-earners nominally producing goods in large enterprises is further increased. Industrial employment, whether in state factories or privatized enterprises is important in all regions, but nowhere are more than half the population in industry. The highest proportion is 49 per cent in the Northern region. The capacity of the Soviet system to distribute industry nation-wide is shown by the fact that in all regions but one at least two fifths of labour force is in industry, including regions that are highest in agricultural employment.
The Central region and the North-west are the two areas in which the service sector is most important. This reflects the importance of Moscow and St Petersburg, their chief cities, as centres of administration and places of employment for well-educated "brain-workers."