This article analizes organized migrant recruitment (OMR), a topic that has gained prominence in the official discourse of Russian state authorities and administrative bodies in recent years. Using the Republic of Tatarstan as a case study, it shows how employers and migrants help shape organized migrant recruitment arrangements in Russia. The theoretical framework draws on J. Hollifield’s concept of the migration state and the framework for analyzing migration management regimes proposed by F. B. Adamson and G. Tsourapas. The study draws on (1) semi-structured expert interviews with members of the management teams of KAMAZ PJSC (Naberezhnye Chelny) and PATP-2 (Kazan), which actively recruit foreign nationals through OMR; and (2) a survey of migrant employees at these enterprises.

The study examines the enterprises’ experiences: their reasons for adopting this method of recruiting foreign labor, the stages in the development of their management strategies, and the ways in which they assist labor migrants in obtaining legal status, adapting, and organizing their work and everyday lives. It also examines foreign workers’ attitudes toward OMR. The findings indicate that labor migrants predominantly view their jobs positively and wish to remain in these jobs. Participation in OMR helps foreign nationals build human capital by acquiring qualifications for a new occupation, upgrading their skills, and improving their Russian-language proficiency. Their employer’s status provides an additional benefit.

The study concludes that the system of organized migrant recruitment developed by enterprises in Tatarstan offers an effective solution to the acute labor shortages in the industrial sector of the Russian economy. The article proposes targeted state support measures for enterprises, including small and medium-sized businesses, seeking to address labor shortages through organized migrant recruitment. It also emphasizes the urgent need to develop a government policy approach to organized migrant recruitment and migration management more broadly, given intensifying competition to recruit workers from Central Asia.

migration management, organized migrant recruitment, employers, labor migrants, Republic of Tatarstan

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