Belarusian Companies Laid Off More Workers Than They Hired in August

Reform.news Editorial Team · 30 September 2026, 04:49

https://reform.news/en/belarusian-companies-laid-off-more-workers-than-they-hired-in-august/

Belarusian companies laid off more people than they hired in August, according to data from Belstat. The report excludes information on micro and small enterprises that are not subordinate to government agencies.

A total of 100,130 people were hired in August, while 110,400 were dismissed. The number of dismissals exceeded the number of hires by 10,263. The situation was largely influenced by the hiring of this year’s graduates.

The number of hires and dismissals increased by 6.6% compared with August 2025.

From January through August, Belarusian companies hired 538,500 people and dismissed 578,000. The balance favored dismissals, which exceeded hires by 39,500.

From January through August, the number of hires increased by 6%, while dismissals rose by 7.8%.

In August, dismissals outnumbered hires in information and communications (-46), agriculture, forestry and fishing (-4,734), manufacturing (-175), transport and logistics (-209), accommodation and food services (-1,700), and education (-7,716).

Hires outnumbered dismissals in August in construction (+19), trade (+413), public administration (+72), and healthcare (+4,627).

Over the first eight months of the year, dismissals exceeded hires in manufacturing (-10,264), healthcare (-2,892), transport and logistics (-5,251), information and communications (-1,361), trade (-1,210), and education (-23,266).

From January through August, hires exceeded dismissals in agriculture, forestry and fishing (+3,578), construction (+5,803), and public administration (+208).