Russian Railways is preparing to reduce management staff and freeze hiring – intelligence

Russian Railways (RZD) is preparing to reduce its management staff and freeze the hiring of new employees due to a drop in freight traffic and a deteriorating economic situation. About said The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

The company plans to eliminate open vacancies and limit the hiring of new employees in an effort to cut costs without mass layoffs.

Back in August, Russian Railways introduced forced unpaid vacations for managers: central office employees must take three additional days off per month at their own expense.

The company's cargo transportation volumes have been declining for the fourth year in a row: by 3.9% in 2022, 0.2% in 2023, 4.1% in 2024, and another 6.7% in the first nine months of 2025.

Grain (-26.6%), cement (-13.8%), and building materials (-13.1%) transportation declined the most.

The company's financial performance also fell sharply: net profit for the first half of 2025 decreased by 95% to $33.75 million against $173.8 million in 2024 and $1.48 billion in 2023.

As a result, Russian Railways cut its investment program by 40%, from $16.3 billion to $10.7 billion. Projects to modernize infrastructure, upgrade rolling stock, and expand routes for exporting raw materials to China were cut.

The company's total debt now stands at about 2.77 trillion rubles.

It is expected that as early as 2026, Russian Railways may face a shortage of money to service its debts and finance its eastern projects, including the expansion of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and integration with Chinese logistics routes.

• On October 9, it became known that some of the largest Russian industrial companies send employees on vacation or reduce staff as the war economy slows down and domestic demand and exports decline.