Introduction. In anticipation of the launch of a new national project “Personnel” in 2025, the need for innovative mechanisms to increase the competitiveness of the Russian labor market is intensifying. The universally recognized form of combating the personnel deficit in the global economy is the attraction of migrant labor.

Materials and methods. The analysis of regulatory legal acts made it possible to consider the specifics of state regulation of the employment of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation by providing “patents” and “work permits.” In the situation of closed statistical data on the part of the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, for an adequate assessment of modern migration trends, the article uses data provided by regional employment services.

Results. The need to attract personnel to the Russian labor market was recorded: the working-age population in Russia in 2023 decreased by more than 200 thousand people by 2017. For employers, the employment of foreign workers working under the patent remains attractive due to the lack of additional bureaucratic burden. An analysis of the distribution of quotas for the attraction and use of foreign workers by
types of economic activity and countries of attraction is presented. In 2024, an increase in the use of labor by foreign workers from countries that were previously practically absent in the Russian labor market was recorded: Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos. Growth points in the regulation of external labor migration related to the growing role of the state as a reliable intermediary for attracting labor migrants by the employer were highlighted. For organizations in search of new sources of attracting foreign labor, it is important to use officially established diplomatic channels; action according to an algorithm developed by the authorities. For regions with an acute shortage of personnel, the development of the institution of organized recruitment of foreign workers seems promising. It is important to expand the information representation of the needs of the Russian labor market on the Internet for foreign audiences.

Discussion. To understand the change in migration flows, the regional specifics of the placement of enterprises, established stable foreign economic relations, which determines the attraction of foreign citizens to the regional labor market, need further research.

Keywords: foreign workers, labor resources, patent, work permit, labor market competitiveness