The Ministry of Industry of the Russian Federation has admitted: the industry is short of nearly 1.9 million workers. Of these, over 500,000 must be specialists with higher education, and another 1.4 million with secondary vocational education. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service, according to UNN.
Details
In 2024, higher and specialized educational institutions graduated over 386,000 engineers and technical specialists. However, only 27–28% of graduates in certain manufacturing specialties remain in production after completing their studies. The rest go where the pay is higher. Every year, the system trains personnel that the industry cannot retain.
There are several reasons, and none can be addressed quickly. Enterprises are suffocating from expensive loans and a lack of investment—there is simply no money to raise wages. The age structure of the workforce is collapsing: over ten years, the share of workers under 30 has decreased from 22% to 12%, while the share of those over 60 has increased by almost 60%. Factories are aging along with their workers, and there is no replacement
– the report states.
Technological renewal, which could partially compensate for the labor shortage, is also stalling. Automation and digitalization are moving too slowly to replace those who have left or passed away. As a result, enterprises stay afloat thanks to the sheer number of personnel—an archaic model that requires more and more people, who are constantly becoming fewer.
Industries requiring a combination of engineering knowledge, production discipline, and experience with complex equipment will be the first to be hit. A vicious circle is emerging: there are not enough people for operations, but there are also not enough for modernization. Enterprises will maintain current production cycles but will be unable to invest in automation and new technologies. In this case, Russia's technological lag behind the rest of the world will only deepen—and no subsequent mobilization plan will fix this
– the intelligence service added.
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