• Russia's economy is facing a record workforce shortage, according to a central bank survey.
• Employers reported the lowest level of worker availability since data collection started in 1998.
• This comes amid the Ukraine war, rise of the gray economy, and an exodus of Russians.

The Russian economy is struggling through a record worker shortage as the war in Ukraine adds pressure on the labor force.  

According a Russian central bank survey, worker availability has fallen to a reading of -18, the lowest since data collection initially began in 1998, Kommersant reported.

The most impacted sectors are manufacturing, water supply, mining, storage and transportation. Meanwhile, car sales, wholesale and services saw the least impact.

Several factors may be contributing to the situation. Russia's population has been shrinking for years, and its so-called gray economy has expanded to surpass other major industries.

But Russia's war on Ukraine has delivered a major shock to the workforce. The military mobilized 300,000 troops last year and plans to mobilize hundreds of thousands more this year.

And about 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded while fighting in Ukraine, with some estimates putting losses at 500 troops a day.

Meanwhile, nearly a million Russians may have left the country for various reasons, whether to escape the military mobilization or flee Western sanctions that have caused economic distress within the nation, according to the Washington Post.

But the 14,000 employers surveyed by the Russian central bank were optimistic about an eventual turnaround, anticipating that seasonal trends will attract workers back in the next few months. 

News of a shrinking workforce comes alongside other dim views on Russia's prospects. 

Russia's economy is becoming increasingly primitive as its war in Ukraine drags on, and the repercussions could push it down the same path the Soviet Union endured three decades ago, according to the Russian economist and University of Chicago professor Konstantin Sonin.

And an adviser to Finland's central bank said Russia is experiencing "reverse industrialization" as Western sanctions and its continued war on Ukraine weigh on long-term economic growth.