The most surprising feature of Table 1 is the low proportion of natives of Baku and its immediate surroundings. Those listed as local workers included Muslims other than Azeris, as well as Armenians, Russians and other Christians, but, even if this is taken into consideration, only 131 workers (7% of the workforce) were local. The proportion of northern Azerbaijan Azeris working for the Nobel Brothers was much lower than their share in the province (48.3%) and somewhat lower than their share in the oil-producing region.
The table shows, for instance, that most of the Nobel Brothers’ workers were Russian: southern Azerbaijan Azeris comprised half that number. Lazgis, Kazan Tatars, Persians, Armenians and northern Azerbaijan Azeris were also hired in significant numbers. In addition, there were Georgian, German, Ossetian, as well as Polish, Jewish, Finnish, Tajik, Latvian and some simply “Muslim” workers. These latter groups were small in number and are therefore not included in Table 1. Table 1 presents details about the literacy, skills, marital status, age, locus of work, job tenure and wages by ethno-religious group of Branobel’s blue collar employees.
