An extended meeting of the Collegium of the Ministry of Labour of Russia was held at the National Centre RUSSIA

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On April 9, an extended meeting of the Collegium of the Ministry of Labour of Russia took place at the National Centre RUSSIA. The event focused on reviewing the results of the Ministry’s work and outlining tasks for the medium term. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin delivered a welcome video address to the meeting participants.

The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Chair of the State Duma Anna Kuznetsova, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Yelena Perminova, Chair of the State Council Commission on the "Personnel" track and Governor of Kaluga Region Vladislav Shapsha, Chair of the State Council Commission on the "Family" track and Head of the Republic of Mordovia Artyom Zdunov, as well as senators and deputies, representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Presidential Executive Office, Accounts Chamber, social partners, the Civic Chamber and expert community. The meeting was also attended by heads of regional executive authorities in the fields of employment and social protection, branches of the Social Fund of Russia, Rostrud, medical and social assessment bureaus, and institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Labour of Russia.

"The most effective and in-demand measures will continue to be provided starting this year within the framework of the new national project 'Family', established by order of the President. Scientists and experts were involved in its development. And, very importantly — the parent community, mothers and fathers from all over the country, also took part. The opinion of citizens must always be a priority when making decisions. It is essential to continue doing everything necessary to improve the well-being of Russian families, to enhance the quality and availability of social services. Caring for families with children, participants in the special military operation and their loved ones, and, of course, elderly citizens and people with disabilities — this is an unconditional priority," noted Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin in his video address.

During the meeting of the Collegium, special emphasis was placed on the implementation of family and demographic policy, as well as support for large families.

"With the involvement of a broad expert community, the parliament, regional authorities, and the parent community, the Strategy of Action for the implementation of family and demographic policy and support for large families until 2036 has been approved. Its main objectives are to preserve the population by increasing the birth rate, to implement a family-oriented demographic policy taking into account national and sociocultural characteristics, and to protect, support, and safeguard families by improving well-being and quality of life and by providing assistance in difficult life situations. According to preliminary results for the first two months of 2025, 24 regions have shown positive birth rate dynamics. I would like to highlight Sevastopol, the Komi Republic, Crimea, the Kaliningrad, Pskov, Tyumen, and Belgorod regions. Today, every constituent entity of the Russian Federation has adopted programs to increase the birth rate. Forty-one regions where the total fertility rate at the end of 2023 was below the national average have received 75 billion rubles in support by order of the President," said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova.

Minister of Labour and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov delivered a report on the main results of the ministry’s work and its objectives for the coming year.

The head of the ministry summed up the results of the work in supporting families with children, placing particular emphasis on large families. It is worth recalling that on the official opening day of the Year of the Family, the President signed a Decree approving a unified status and guarantees for families raising three or more children.

"In 40 regions, the measures provided for by the Decree are already being granted without any need-based criteria. I hope the number of such regions will gradually increase," noted Anton Kotyakov.

To ensure that the status of a large family is taken into account when providing support measures without the need to collect additional documents, a unified register of large families has been created.

"Today, the register includes 2.7 million families. The collected database already allows us to issue electronic certificates for large families. These applications can be submitted via the State Services portal, which is quite convenient. Since October 1, more than 1.5 million people have already taken advantage of this option. The collected data enables us to verify the status of large families in a simple and convenient way. This, in turn, opens the door to introducing new benefits for large families from the corporate sector," said the Minister.

An important issue is the pension provision for mothers with many children.

"We will need to implement unified standards in every rehabilitation centre in the country. This became possible thanks to the law on comprehensive rehabilitation and habilitation, which came into force on 1 March 2025. Special thanks for this project go to our relevant Committee on Labour, Social Policy, and Veterans' Affairs in the State Duma. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the adoption of this law marks a complete reset of our rehabilitation system," noted the Minister of Labour.

During the meeting, the Minister of Labour also paid special attention to the preparation for the provision of family payments for parents with two or more children starting in 2026.

"According to preliminary estimates, the assistance will be assigned to parents of more than 10 million children. The payment will be provided based on the results of the declaration campaign for 2025, but we are already preparing the regulatory legal acts that will define the procedure for its provision. In the near future, the draft Resolution will be submitted for public discussion," said Anton Kotyakov.

Another important area of work is ensuring economic growth and personnel sovereignty.

"For the first time, a five-year forecast of labour demand has been prepared. It took into account labour productivity indicators, industry forecasts, territorial development projections, and demographic trends. A total of 260,000 companies took part in the nationwide employer survey. Considering the time required for specialist training, this year we are transitioning to a seven-year forecasting period. The nationwide employer survey for this extended period already began on 1 April. In less than a week and a half, 23,000 companies have already participated," noted Minister of Labour Anton Kotyakov.

The results of the surveys allow the education system to more accurately adjust workforce training. Programmes for retraining adult job seekers are also being fine-tuned.

"This year, we have refined the programme in collaboration with industry-specific agencies, the relevant committee of the Federation Council, and the State Council commission on the 'Personnel' track. Based on the forecast, we selected 360 priority professions and specialties. To involve corporate training centres, we created a fourth operator — here, free training will be provided at the Research Institute of Labour. Thanks to this, we were able to engage employers' educational capacities in the process. As of today, 740 educational programmes have been prepared in line with the 360 in-demand fields in the labour market. Under this programme, we plan to train over 100,000 people this year, and by the end of 2030, 700,000 of our citizens will be able to acquire in-demand skills," the Minister emphasised.

Career guidance, support for students, and increasing the prestige of working professions also play an equally important role.

"At the federal level, promotion mechanisms include the All-Russian Job Fair and the updated All-Russian Professional Skills Competition 'Best in the Profession'. The All-Russian Job Fair will be held very soon — on 18 April. And just today, registration opened for the first regional stages of the 'Best in the Profession' competition," said Anton Kotyakov.

Another set of tasks is related to transitioning regional support measures to the principles of social treasury. The Minister of Labour spoke about adjusting regional support measures on a unified digital platform. Eleven constituent entities are already involved in this work.

Special attention is being given to the older generation and the support of citizens with disabilities.

Active longevity programmes will continue to develop. Currently, they cover 12 million people. The long-term care system will also continue to evolve — as instructed by the President, it should cover 500,000 people by 2030.

"Today, we must pay the closest attention to the quality and accessibility of rehabilitation. Three aspects are critically important here: the provision of technical rehabilitation equipment, the improvement of rehabilitation care quality, and ensuring its accessibility," outlined Anton Kotyakov as the key objectives for the sector in this area.

To achieve this, the assignment of technical rehabilitation equipment (TRE) has already been detailed in individual rehabilitation and habilitation programmes at the level of medical and social expertise, with social indications now also considered in the assignment process. To enhance convenience for citizens, starting from 1 January 2025, it will be possible to apply for provision 60 days before the expiration of the current TRE usage period.

To improve the quality of rehabilitation care, the Ministry of Labour has developed 25 rehabilitation care standards covering all types of rehabilitation and target groups.

"These unified standards must be implemented in every rehabilitation centre in the country. This has been made possible by the law on comprehensive rehabilitation and habilitation, which came into force on 1 March 2025. Special thanks go to our relevant committee on labour, social policy and veterans’ affairs in the State Duma for this project. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the adoption of this law represents a complete reboot of our rehabilitation system," stressed the Minister of Labour of Russia.

The entire social sector pays special attention to supporting veterans of the special military operation (SMO). Standards for individual support of SMO veterans and their families have been developed for employment centers, and co-financing for equipping workplaces for citizens with disabilities and SMO veterans has been initiated. Rehabilitation and the provision of technical rehabilitation equipment for soldiers are under special control. From the beginning of the year, the rehabilitation centers of the Social Fund, which were previously used only for the rehabilitation of workplace accident victims, have started accepting SMO veterans for rehabilitation and sanatorium-resort treatment.

"The year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War has been declared by the President as the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. In this special year, social protection authorities must pay the utmost attention to supporting veterans. The task of supporting veterans and their families is a priority for each of us," emphasized the Minister of Labour of Russia.

At the conclusion of the event, Tatyana Golikova and Anton Kotyakov thanked social sector workers for their hard work and presented state and departmental awards to the best employees.

Additionally, during the session, discussions were held on the most pressing issues related to the implementation of the national projects "Family" and "Personnel" with the heads of labor, employment, and social protection authorities in the regions of the Russian Federation and representatives of regional labor inspections.