{"id":83656,"date":"2024-05-05T11:39:55","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T08:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/83656\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lukasenka-turns-to-unlikely-source-to-ease-labor-shortage","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/83656\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka turns to unlikely source to ease labor shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Ale\u015b Hudzija<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka urged his government to consider job cuts in the banking system to ease skilled labor shortages in agriculture and other sectors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/finance_1128_freepik-com.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/finance_1128_freepik-com.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/finance_1128_freepik-com-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/finance_1128_freepik-com-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/finance_1128_freepik-com-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/finance_1128_freepik-com-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n    <figcaption>\n        \n                    <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                                <span>(freepik.com)<\/span>\n            <\/div>\n            <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We are diverting a huge number of specialists from the economy to some banks. So we should think about their [banks] optimization,&#8221; he told officials on April 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Shrinking financial sector<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The financial sector employed 43,400 people in 2023 and has been shrinking. Over the past ten years, the number of its employees has decreased by 26 percent, and since 2020, by 10 percent. The sector can hardly fill the employment gaps in other industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The workload in banking is already high, based on customers served. Besides, the financial sector has been shedding staff at a faster rate than other sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">High number of customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Belarusian banking system is serving a large number of customers. Based on the population, Belarus has as many as 398,000 people per one financial institution, while Russia has 411,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Germany, despite a high number of banks, has an average of 63,000 people per financial institution and Poland, 65,000. Lithuania and Latvia have 36,000 and 46,000, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on customer numbers, Belarus needs more banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Number of financial institutions<br><\/strong>Number of financial institutions, units<br>People per financial institution, \u2019000<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" src=\"https:\/\/flo.uri.sh\/visualisation\/17781091\/embed#?secret=fS2OlheOMz\" data-secret=\"fS2OlheOMz\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"575\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sources: ECB, Central Bank of Russia, National Bank of Belarus<br>*data for January 1, 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fewer banks than in other countries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Belarus has 21 banks, including four state-owned, 14 foreign-owned and three private ones. In addition, there are two other financial institutions, such as Bie\u0142inkashrup and the ERIP payment system operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The European Union has 4,902 credit and financial institutions, including 571 registered in Poland, 79 in Lithuania, 41 in Latvia and 31 in Estonia, according to the European Central Bank (ECB).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Poland has the largest number of financial institutions in the EU, more than Russia (356).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In comparison with other countries, Belarus\u2019 banking sector is definitely not oversized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Higher profits, pay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Banks have reported higher salaries than most other sectors. Even after a cut in banking jobs, former bank employees are unlikely to look for lower-paid jobs in the already tight labor market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The banking sector reported a 40.1-percent year-on-year rise in profit to 2.94 billion rubels in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On January 1, the state-owned banks reported assets of 84.8 billion rubels (66.4 percent); foreign-owned banks, 40.9 billion rubels (32 percent); and private banks, 1.97 billion rubels (1.5 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/torgovlya-selo-tut.by-1128-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/torgovlya-selo-tut.by-1128-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/torgovlya-selo-tut.by-1128-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/torgovlya-selo-tut.by-1128-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/torgovlya-selo-tut.by-1128-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/torgovlya-selo-tut.by-1128.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> The Viewer<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">The Viewer<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">\u0141uka\u0161enka trumpets his economic record, claiming Belarus better off than neighbors<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">By Ale\u015b Hudzija In his opening address to the All-Belarusian People&#039;s Assembly (UNS) on April 24, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka said that he would not talk about the economy. Still, he did not miss the opportunity to trumpet his record, leaving out &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/longreads\/82818\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ale\u015b Hudzija Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka urged his government to consider job cuts in the banking system to ease skilled labor shortages in agriculture and other sectors. &#8220;We are diverting a huge number of specialists from the economy to some banks. So we should think about their [banks] optimization,&#8221; he told officials on April 4. Shrinking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":83319,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-83656","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u0141uka\u0161enka turns to unlikely source to ease labor shortage | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Ale\u015b Hudzija Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka urged his government to consider job cuts in the banking system to ease skilled labor shortages in agriculture and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/83656\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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