Аннотация: We all know that salaries in Russia are low. With the figure of 50 thousand rubles, 727 dollars before personal income tax, we are not only behind developed European countries, but also China, they have this figure now a little more than one thousand dollars. We are also inferior to some former Soviet countries, for example, Estonia is twice as inferior. The purpose of this study is to explain why the situation with low wages in Russia is so bad. To do this , you first need to understand how wages work, how the labor market works, then go through the specifics of countries that are catching up with development, and finally highlight some exceptional features of the Russian economy and figure out how to raise wages.Keywords: young generation, education, digital technologies, cognitive abilities of the brain, multifunctionality, focus of attention.