MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. The bulk of Russian companies (63%) have retained their personnel amid the ongoing sanctions, compared to 23% of firms that have cut the number of employees. Meanwhile, the wage level has remained unchanged in 77% of companies, according to a study conducted by the Netologiya education company andthe hh.ru online recruiting platform made available to TASS.

The research is based on a poll among 420 employers representing small-sized, mid-sized and large businesses.

"The majority of respondents (63%) noted that the number of employees did not change once the crisis began. Another 14% of employers said their staff had increased. Only 23% of those interviewed had reported a decrease in personnel," according to the study. Enterprises with over 3,000 employees account for 69% of companies that have retained their staff.

New employees are most often hired in the Ural Federal District (22%), the paper noted. Regarding professions, IT companies are more prone to expanding personnel (31%).