In Belarus, Workers Are Being Laid Off With Increasing Frequency

• 30.09.2026, 10:48

In August, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries stood out.

In August, Belarusian companies laid off more employees than they hired, according to data from Belstat. The report did not include information on micro- and small enterprises not under the jurisdiction of any government agency.

In August, 100,130 people were hired, while 110,400 were laid off, meaning there were 10,263 more layoffs than hires. The situation was largely influenced by the employment of this year’s graduates.

Compared to August 2025, the number of both new hires and layoffs increased by 6.6%.

From January through August, companies hired 538,500 people and laid off 578,000. The net increase in layoffs was 39,500. Hiring during this period increased by 6%, while layoffs rose by 7.8%.

In August, layoffs outnumbered hires in the following sectors: information and communications (-46), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (-4,734), manufacturing (-175), transportation and logistics (-209), accommodation and food services (-1,700), and education (-7,716).

Hiring outnumbered layoffs in construction (+19), trade (+413), public administration (+72), and health care (+4,627).

Over the first eight months, layoffs were most prevalent in manufacturing (-10,264), health care (-2,892), transportation and logistics (-5,251), information and communications (-1,361), trade (-1,210), and education (-23,266).

A net increase in employment for January–August was recorded in agriculture, forestry, and fishing (+3,578), construction (+5,803), and public administration (+208).