Skilled hands from India fill Russia's labour gap

which has a network of agents scouting for candidates with suitable skills.

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“We are now seeing demand for unskilled workers who can work in the fish processing industry as well,” Mallick added.

The hiring frenzy echoes a similar boom during the Gulf boom in the last century, when millions of Indian workers flocked to countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait.

Recruitment firms said that hiring for these skill sets requires tapping into well-connected networks, where many in a cluster of villages may practise the same trade.