Covid-19 Pandemic and Labor Migration of Kalmykia’s Rural Population

Introduction. The issue examined in the article is topical enough since it arises from the need to analyze actual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on internal labor migration processes among the population. The COVID-19 crisis has affected most sectors of the economy. The introduction of quarantine measures and non-working days led to a number of problems for labor migrants: loss of work, reduction in wages, change of employment, loss of a certain status, and other consequences. Goals. The article aims to assess the impact of the current situation in the labor market to have resulted from the introduction of national quarantine and self-isolation regime on interregional and intraregional migration trends. The article discusses two aspects of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labor migration in the republic, such as return migrations from Moscow and other regions to Kalmykia, and the migration of medical doctors and healthcare workers both within the republic and beyond. Materials and Methods. The paper introduces results of in-depth interviews with labor migrants who returned to Kalmykia during the period of restrictive measures, as well as with MDs and nursing staff who left for work in the ‘red zone’ outside their rural settlements and outside the republic. Results. The analysis of the impact entailed by the COVID-19 pandemic shows that migration is a dynamic process sensitive to any social change. Migration flows are characterized by a high level of renewability which is confirmed by both statistical data and the results of interviews: after some weakening of the restrictive measures the respondents returned to their jobs in other regions. However, such renewability of migration flows shows, in our opinion, the complexity of social and economic processes taking place in rural areas. The migration of MDs and medical personnel also attests to that — if it is possible to receive more material remuneration — qualified personnel are ready to leave not only their native villages but also the republic

Circular migration · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Human settlement · Internal migration · Pandemic · Political science · Population · Rural area · Socioeconomics · Sociology · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Demography · Impulse Buying and Technology Impacts · Medicine · Regional Socio-Economic Development Trends