Minsk’s ‘housemasters’ have been proving themselves worth their weight in gold, being able to act as electrician, plumber, painter and carpenter for residential apartment blocks. Of course, it’s far more efficient to have an ‘in house’ expert able to act promptly, and with pride in their work.In fact, so successful are they that such housemasters’ salaries have risen up to 1.5 times of late. Already, 1,600 have received training countrywide, with 66 percent being in Minsk (where they earn Br7.5m per month). The Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of Belarus notes that the move is optimising the structure and number of employees required, with numbers reduced by 1,260 in the first six months of 2014.
Soon, over 500 administrative employees are to be made redundant in Minsk alone, saving over Br43bn per year in salaries.
