AvtoVAZ has shifted production to a four-day workweek as sales decline and employees’ incomes fall. Plant management denies reports of mass resignations, describing the situation as normal turnover, but workers in Tolyatti say conditions at the factory have become tense and leaving the job is now more difficult.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the company benefited from the departure of Western car brands from the Russian market. In 2023, the plant hired more than 4,000 new employees; in 2024, it hired 2,500 despite announcing a target of 5,000. State support measures, including a change in the recycling-fee formula from November 1, 2025 and a rule requiring official taxis to be assembled in Russia from March 1, have not been enough.
The company announced the move to a four-day schedule in July, saying it could not withstand price competition from foreign, primarily Chinese, brands and that demand had fallen because of the high key interest rate and reduced access to car loans. From January to September 2025, AvtoVAZ sold 211,300 Lada cars, down 24.9% from a year earlier. In late September, the plant switched to the reduced schedule, which management expects to last for six months.
“I earned 100,000 rubles, but that was with overtime, working 10 hours a day, six days a week. For many people, 50,000 to 60,000 rubles is clearly too little, especially if they have loans,” former plant worker Linar said.
Workers say their incomes fell not only because of the shorter week, but also because overtime work had already been cut. One employee, Konstantin, said those who find another job leave immediately, but there are few clearly better options in Tolyatti. He also said the resignation process can now take up to a month because management delays signing documents and workers must go through an interview with their supervisors.
In the coming months, Friday will be a non-working day at the plant, although management has announced paid “community work days on Fridays” to give employees a chance to earn extra money. Another worker, Roman, said there had been no resignations in his unit since the start of the year and that the real impact of the four-day week on wages would become clearer in November.
Andrei Savelyev, administrator of the labor-conflict portal Antijob.net, linked the situation to the broader crisis in civilian industry and rising military spending. He said the state informally expects large companies to avoid mass layoffs in order to prevent social tension, so businesses reduce working hours and wages instead of cutting staff directly. He also pointed to the weakness of independent trade unions and said that previously higher wages had depended heavily on overtime work.