The article assesses the current state of remuneration in Russia, including in comparison with the situation in other countries of the world. The dynamics of the share of labor remuneration in GDP is analyzed, and the relationship between the level of labor remuneration and its productivity is revealed. The average, median, and minimum wages were compared with the subsistence minimum during the reform period. It is shown that high, by world standards, wage differentiation poorly takes into account individual characteristics, which negatively affects the performance of its main functions.