Prospects for the development of the potential of the Russian Arctic: motivational drivers of labor migrants (based on the example of shift employment)

The article updates the topic of developing the labor potential of the Russian Arctic. The ideas and motives of shift workers about this type of work in labor-scarce regions and its inconsistency from the point of view of advantages and negative consequences for both the individual and the region are analyzed. The purpose of the article is to identify a number of attitudes and ideas of shift workers as temporary labor migrants about their employment and work activities in order to determine the drivers for the development of the labor potential of the Russian Arctic. The following intangible determinants of the choice of employment on a rotational basis in a harsh climatic region were analyzed: motivation, satisfaction with the characteristics of the labor market, reflection of personal qualities and values, underlying the decision on regular temporary migration. The study was conducted among employed people coming to work in the Arctic zone of Russia from non-Arctic regions of the Russian Federation. The empirical basis of the study is based on a survey of 850 shift workers and interviews with 13 informants. When processing quantitative data, simple distributions, contingency tables and statistical methods were used. Qualitative data processing methods: content analysis and thematic analysis. The results of the study showed that rotational workers are motivated by the relationship between the level of wages and the cost of living in the region of permanent residence. Informants note an alignment with salaries “on the mainland” but the commitment to shift work remains due to its lack of alternative in terms of the ratio of advantages and limitations. For shift workers, the value of wages, professional development and the reliability of the employing company is significant. Self-assessment of personal qualities that determine the choice of work in hard-to-reach places is associated by shift workers with openness to new experience, stress resistance and communication skills. A direct correlation was revealed between the experience of rotational employment and the unwillingness to move to the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation for permanent residence. The results justify the need to take into account the volume of shift employment when preparing a personnel forecast for labor-scarce regions, and will also be useful for the recruiting activities of personnel services of companies operating in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and using the rotational method of labor organization.