At least 188,000 workers in Russia remain on the payrolls of big Western companies, an FT analysis found.Scores of Western multinationals say they pulled out of Russia after the Ukraine war began.The FT said some companies didn’t confirm whether or not they were still paying staff in Russia.Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original analysis, news, and trends — delivered right to your inbox.Loading Something is loading.
Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy .Big Western companies are still paying at least 188,000 workers in Russia despite pledges to cut business activity in the country, an analysis by the Financial Times found.
The FT said it’s likely that even more workers are still being paid by Western multinationals because companies such as Coca-Cola and Yum Brands, the owner of KFC , didn’t confirm whether or not they still had staff in Russia on their payrolls.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, more than 750 businesses have said they’d pull out of the country to some degree, the Yale School of Management says.This includes well-known brands such as Spotify , Disney , and Apple .
Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh said in early April that his company was still paying more than 800 staff in Russia.
Under Russian law, companies that have suspended operations in the country still have to pay workers who are based there, Peter Finding, an employment lawyer at FisherBroyles, told the FT.
According to the FT, employees in the retail, manufacturing, and consumer industries were at greatest risk of losing their jobs if their employers decided to stay closed, unlike white-collar firms that were able to move their employees to new locations.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday that 200,000 Russians in the capital city were at risk of becoming unemployed.
Sobyanin added that 58,000 workers would benefit from an employment-support program, worth around $41 million, which was approved by the city.
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