The participants discussed measures to promote the employment of veterans of the special military operation (SMO), their professional training, and additional professional training in professions that are in high demand.
“Employment of participants in the special military operation remains under the special control of the head of state,” Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said during her remarks. “The President has instructed the Government, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation and regional authorities to engage with the SMO participants and their families, including those who have not contacted employment services, to provide them with support measures, help find employment, and offer additional professional training.”
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the Government had approved an interagency action plan to improve the employment rate among the SMO participants and to provide career guidance. The plan provides for psychological, social, and legal support for the SMO participants as they seek employment, assistance in obtaining necessary documents, and the organisation of specialised job fairs with the participation of regional employers.
To date, over 10,500 SMO participants and their family members contacted employment services and received over 33,000 employment support-related state services, including job search assistance, career counseling, and other services.
Most of demobilised servicemen are employed in manufacturing, transport, retail trade, construction, and public administration.
A range of measures is provided to ensure the employment of SMO participants and their family members. For example, they are entitled to priority support from employment services for training and job placement.
Employees participating in the special military operation are guaranteed job retention and the preservation of the labour and social guarantees they had before their deployment. A special procedure has been established for counting service time towards pension eligibility.
As part of the Personnel national project launched on January 1, 2025, professional training is being provided to SMO participants and their family members. Training is based on a list of 360 in-demand professions, positions, and specialties approved in February 2025. An information resource has been created on the Work of Russia website to accept and route training applications.
Following the meeting, the Ministry of Labour and the Social Fund were instructed to analyse cases of employment where demobilised SMO participants have had zero or below-minimum wage income for a month (or within the last six months), and to assess the causes of each identified situation.
The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation was tasked with developing and submitting to the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education the following:
a) proposals for training aimed at improving the skill levels of the SMO participants to enable their employment in positions (professions) they have expressed interest in, taking into account their newly acquired skills; and b) proposals for forming regional registries of professions in demand among SMO participants.
To improve the organisation of employment for demobilised SMO participants and to prepare for future demobilisation, the supreme regional executive authorities must assess whether employment services have sufficient staffing to walk these individuals through the employment process. They must also analyse the availability of vacancies (reserved or planned to be created) suitable for this category of workforce.
Regional executive authorities are recommended to strengthen efforts to employ SMO participants, including those with disabilities, and their family members, through employment services using a one-stop-shop approach and a personal career consultant, as well as the unified digital platform Work of Russia. Additionally, continuous monitoring of this work and coordination among all relevant bodies is necessary. Furthermore, it is necessary to inform: a) SMO participants and their family members about the possibility of priority access to government social assistance mechanisms through social contracts, their right to priority training and employment via employment services, and activities under the Personnel national project for vocational and additional training; b) employers about the available incentives for hiring specific categories of citizens (including partial wage compensation to employers) and reimbursement of a portion of the costs associated with creating or equipping workplaces for disabled combat veterans, among others.