In Russia the labor migration problem has a number of exceptionally urgent aspects at which are constantly focused both government bodies and public organizations. These include legal aspects (both in the legislative and in the criminal fi elds), cultural aspects (tolerance and interpenetration of cultures problems) and economic aspects. The author argues that labor migration is considered as a necessary precondition for normal functioning of society and helps to allocate optimally the labor resources and provide for balanced development of diff erent economic regions. The substantial infl ow of migrants began at the dawn of the market economy and since then boosts the economic growth of the capital, and maintains the labor resources supply. Immigration is one of mechanisms to maintain labor potential at the proper level. The major shortcomings of external immigration are the result of many gaps in the legal framework of immigration, ignorance of the local laws, culture and traditions and lack of legal opportunities to get decent work, lodging and payment. As a result the growing army of illegal foreign workers leads to the intercultural and social tension and increase in crime. The most eff ective way to settle the mentioned problems and to suppress the illegal immigration, the author argues, — is for the government to make the legal labor immigration highly attractive for both its own citizens and immigrants.
Labor adaptation, labor migration, economic growth, migratory policy, migratory potential, international migration, regulation of immigration, social tension.