Modern Criminal Labor Market: Characterization and Counteraction

The article presents a description of the dynamics of the state and structure of such a segment of the Russian criminal market as the criminal labor market in the modern period with a dynamic series from 2013 to 2023. Using data from earlier studies, the author concludes that the informal (shadow) employment sector remains quite stable throughout the study period, and a decrease in the share of informally employed in the structure of the working population is compensated by the share consisting of other categories of workers in the shadow sector. The structure of the subject composition of both the shadow labor market and its criminal part is considered, where workers are engaged either in the production and circulation of counterfeit goods, or in the provision of unlicensed services, or in the illegal circulation of goods and services prohibited in civil circulation. The most vulnerable social groups susceptible to involvement in criminal employment are analyzed. It is pointed out that the measures taken by the state in order to reduce the shadow labor market, as well as the fact that these measures have not yet worked due to the fact that they have been adopted recently, while hoping for a decrease, including the criminal component of the labor market in Russia.