Salaries in Russia

I decided to analyze the history of my income during my life in Russia.

From various propaganda sources, you often hear: "We have the lowest taxes, salaries always increase," and so on.

I don't want to raise the topic of taxes for now, maybe I'll come back to it later.

But let's talk about salaries. This topic is usually not discussed in Russia because it is considered impolite to count money, especially other people's, which leads to financial illiteracy among the population.

I have been working in the IT industry since 2007, and my salary has consistently grown in Russian rubles, almost every year, but not without a reason.

To achieve this, it is necessary to constantly learn and improve one's skills. So I cannot say that the salary increases just by itself, except perhaps during periods of working in the oil state-owned company. I will exclude this data from the overall picture because the salary is "anomalous" in that sector and does not reflect the reality. Therefore, the years 2017-2020 will be excluded from the analysis.

It's actually quite noticeable how the situation changed after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It can be seen that after 2014, salaries either remained stagnant or decreased. And if we factor in inflation, the situation becomes even more disheartening.

If we calculate the average, an IT infrastructure specialist's salary in Russia, living in Moscow or the Moscow region, is around $8 per hour, with about 15 years of experience and continuous learning. That's how things stand.

So, in order to maintain the same income level in Russia, one needs to take action (study, take exams, improve qualifications). Otherwise, the income will decline rapidly.