The particular features of the job market and the trends in the employment sphere of the education sector are analyzed in the article. It is shown that the «over-occupation» and the relatively low wages in education institutions are closely connected and institutionally predetermined. The salaries in the public education system are rigidly connected to the minimal wage, which is determined by politico-bureaucratic procedures uniformly for all regions. That unavoidably leads to lower salaries in education as compared to principal non-public economy sectors. Low salaries stimulate an artificial expansion of employment, which in its turn even further lowers the salaries. The absolute number of the employed in this sector in Russia remained approximately stable during the period in question, although the share of the sector in the overall employment in the economy has increased, so it is much higher than in most developed countries. Within Russia, the level of employment in the education sector varies significantly among regions, its share is the highest in the least economically developed ones.