Labor Migrants in Russia: Sociocultural Portrait

The article reveals the problems of interaction between people who come to Russia for work and the sociocultural environment of the host society, an essential component of which is the attitude of the local population to labour migrants. Data from empirical studies show that relations with the host population are evaluated positively by labour migrants. In turn, the "sociocultural portrait" of migrants is formed by Russians based on their beliefs about the negative consequences of labour migration, despite such socially positive qualities of labour migrants as hard work, willingness to work hard and improve their lives. The authors emphasise the need for a detailed study of the impact of the sociocultural environment of the host society, the adaptive capabilities of labour migrants, as well as social practices of interaction between the host population and the authorities with labour migrants, which require timely legal and managerial decisions.