LOCAL

By Andy Potts

Most Russians believe the economic crisis has made little difference to life in their office, according to a survey conducted by Russian Public Opinion Research Centre, or VTsIOM.

Despite doom and gloom over unemployment figures, and almost daily reports of financial woes afflicting all sectors of the economy, an overwhelming majority of people in work do not believe their relationship with their bosses has been affected.

In total 81 per cent of workers polled felt that the attitude of management had remained unchanged since the crisis took hold.

Among people who regarded their personal finances as "very good" or "good", the figure was up to 87 per cent, though in lower income brackets it dropped to 76 per cent. Low earners were also more likely to complain that things were getting worse, with only 2 per cent of the top set fearing things were going downhill. People living in large or medium-sized cities, as well as older respondents, tended to report fewer changes, with 89 per cent of over-60s saying things were continuing as before and 85 per cent of urbanites agreeing.

Overall 7 per cent of respondents felt things were getting worse, while 5 per cent said relations with the top brass had improved as the economic picture deteriorated.

There was less confidence that management was leading companies through the storm as effectively as possible, however, with only 35 per cent nationwide believing that their employers had successfully delivered measures to overcome the current problems. Moscow and St. Peters­burg workers were more impressed than most, with 42 per cent in the big cities endorsing their managers' efforts.

Splits also emerged in different professions: uniformed officers tended to claim that their bosses were doing nothing special, since they were largely unaffected by the crisis. At the same time, specialists with higher education felt that either their leaders were successfully grappling with the problem (44 per cent) or had so far failed to make progress despite their efforts (21 per cent).

Two-thirds of workers feel that their bosses are trying to preserve staff conditions as well as they can, although there was a big variation among different income groups. While 82 per cent of the top earners felt supported by managers, only 54 per cent of the lowest-income groups agreed. Twenty-six per cent of them felt their working conditions had got worse.

Otherwise, there was praise for a lack of panic - only 9 per cent feared the workforce was being demoralised by managerial uncertainty. Just over three-quarters felt that their employers were staying calm, with a similar split between well-off (89 per cent) and poorer (67 per cent) respondents. More than two-thirds felt that company leadership responded in a friendly and tactful way to any problems, with only 13 per cent feeling they suffered a lack of respect.

The survey, carried out by Russia's oldest opinion polling organisation in February 7-8, polled 1,600 respondents from 140 population points in 42 regions across Russia. The poll had an error margin of 3.4 per cent.