Medvedev spoke in an interview with Russian NTV channel.
"The general task is to organize quite a large number of temporary jobs in the next twelve months. A total of 1,070,000 jobs should be created," Medvedev said, adding that another 250,000 Russians should be given an opportunity to undergo retraining.
Russia has been hard hit by the global financial crisis, with unemployment rising and the ruble losing about 40% of its value against the dollar amid a drastic decline in oil prices, Russia's most important export.
The Economic Development Ministry earlier said that the number of people officially registered as unemployed in Russia had reached 2.344 million as of April 14.
The ministry said the number of unemployed in Russia could reach up to 2.8 million this year.
Since October 2008, more than 32,000 companies in Russian regions have announced layoffs amid the economic crisis.
