The number of vacancies for middle and senior managers, as well as for high profile professionals, has been growing since the second half of last year and the trend continues in 2011.

According to Antal Russia, salaries in the production sector increased by 15-20% on average in comparison with the beginning of the previous year. The highest salary rise was seen in the extractive industry, energy and oil & gas sectors, as well as in pharmaceuticals.

Eugenia Lanichkina, manager of production recruitment at Antal Russia, says: “Growing recruitment activity is reflecting the general recovery from the downturn.

“Many companies are moving their focus from import to home-grown production in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, buying production sites and launching new manufacturing lines. M&A activity is on the increase and in turn this increases the appetite for strong professionals and managers able to direct companies to restructure and develop accordingly.”

The most active sub-sectors for recruitment are automotive and heavy machine building sectors, suppliers and manufacturers of automotive components, manufacturers of construction materials and building constructions, food and packaging manufacturers, extractive and energy companies, as well as pharmaceutical companies aiming to launch local production.