KAMAZ

Russia's largest automaker is considering hiring inmates to assemble its trucks

Kamaz, Russia's biggest truck maker, faces a shortage of workers to resume production in the country. Still under the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russian automakers face not only the lack of chips, the main problem for the industry in 2021, but also the workforce. And the solution for this can be unusual and come from the prisons there.

Kamaz CEO Sergei Cogogin said in an interview with reporters that the automaker is considering "applying the program developed by the Federal Penitentiary Service". In other words, the Russian manufacturer can resort to the country's prison system. And hire inmates to then resume truck production. However, for now there is no decision on the matter.

Unusual measure...Although it does not know whether or not to hire prisoners, Kamaz is going through a delicate moment. According to a Reuters report, the Russian manufacturer faces a shortage of around 4,000 workers at the factory in Naberezhnye Chelny, in Tatarstan. To fill the necessary vacancies to resume production, the automaker brought immigrants from Uzbekistan. However, there is still a lack of people. Also according to the agency's report, the restrictions caused by the pandemic are the main cause of the shortage of workers. Mandatory social isolation, to contain the advance of Covid-19, emptied the factories and made immigrants leave the country. Therefore, the Federal Penitentiary System proposed that the automaker resort to inmates. This is unusual in the vehicle industry.

It is still unclear whether Kamaz will take this idea forward. But using inmates to produce trucks may not appeal to all of the company's shareholders. Among them is the German Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, which holds 15% of the shares of the Russian manufacturer. The situation, on the other hand, is extreme and the solution to start making trucks again may not be the best or ideal.

Autonews