Marina Lavrikova: ‘When there is an acute labour shortage, each person is of particular value’

Could you please tell us how changes in the global situation over the past few years have affected the requirements for preparing specialists? Are there any emerging needs for personnel of a particular profile in Russia and how has the University responded to new market demands?

As part of the Labour Forum, Marina Lavrikova took part in the annual round table ‘Competency model of a university graduate: analysis of learning goals and outcomes’.

Earlier, the competition on the labour market was for obtaining a job. Today, the situation is quite the opposite. All employers are looking for workers who are in short supply in all industries. Recently, large job aggregators have begun to announce auctions to attract specific employees. What is in demand today is professionals in any industry and with a wide range of competencies. Yet, there is a stronger preference for engineers and technicians. The current acute shortage of engineering personnel is largely due to the fact that their number has been decreasing since Soviet times and the need for them has been constantly growing. We have been witnessing an increasing need for engineers and technicians since Russia took a steady course towards import substitution and the development of its own technologies.

Today, the whole world is overcoming challenges in implementing AI. 

Specialists who have used various systems for data analysis are getting new tools and opportunities related to AI technologies. Across the globe, including the labour market of the Russian Federation, there is a demand for AI developers and AI specialists.

According to global statistics, the top 20 most in-demand professions include, for example, materials science, quantum technologies, genetics, artificial intelligence, any engineers and developers to name just a few. In terms of what academic programmes they study to get a relevant degree, among them are the following: chemistry, mathematics, programming, biology, and physics. These are the programmes that St Petersburg University has been offering for quite a long time. Yet, we have adjusted our academic programmes to the current requirements of the labour market and introduced some of the most essential competencies.

The University promptly responds to market demands. In 2021, we received a state order and grant support to prepare specialists in the field of artificial intelligence. Last year, the Advanced Engineering School was opened at St Petersburg University. Our degree in mathematics prepares students for employment in a wide variety of occupations, including analytics. Yet, due to the current demand for programmers and other IT specialists, many proceed to employment in programming and IT. The demand for St Petersburg University graduates in the natural sciences, physics, and mathematics is not decreasing; quite on the contrary, it is on the rise. In fact, graduates in any programme that St Petersburg University offers are much in demand today.

In Russia, there is a labour shortage, even acute shortage, in almost all sectors: healthcare, science, education, manufacturing, and public service. St Petersburg University is committed to teaching students in almost any field: doctors, teachers, programmers, mathematicians, physicists, economists, translators and interpreters, museum workers, and other specialists who meet the latest requirements and possess the necessary professional and universal competencies.

The problem that we have been talking about for several years, including at the Labour Forum, relates more to the problem of generations on today’s labour market. People over 40, i.e. the older generation, are well-rounded people who have gained a considerable life experience. They are more resilient, disciplined, organised and mostly opt for typical forms of employment, often possessing the same competencies as recent university graduates, sometimes even at a higher level. Employees who are now over 30 differ from those who are in their early or mid-20s, especially in terms of their readiness to work in the current market conditions, when there is a huge demand for mid-level workers in manufacturing enterprises with traditional forms and procedures. Young people more often than not look for more creative and easier jobs, without strict schedules and discipline requirements. It might seem that everyone has a good and high-quality education, yet everyone works differently. Many young people are more superficial about what they do, do not seek stable employment, compared to people of the older generation. This is not a reproach but simply a statement. According to psychologists and sociologists, this is largely due to the generational differences as people at work have lived and worked in different conditions. Moreover, these differences have become increasingly apparent, which was not the case, say, 10 or 15 years ago.

What areas of study would you recommend to future applicants who are planning to enter the University this or next year?

This is a very difficult question. On the one hand, you should choose from what you like. On the other hand, you should remember that being constantly industrious and hard-working, and overworking to obtain a ‘difficult’ degree is far from what we are always inclined to do. Many parents do not overload their children. Today’s world is complex. Anxiety is so common today, as are health problems, especially in large cities. Children experience the same difficulties as adults. Yet, children are not as resilient as adults are.

Official statistics show that for many years now, more than 55% of school graduates choose Unified State Exam subjects that are not related to specialised mathematics, physics, chemistry, and, as a result, do not go into engineering, physics, or chemistry after leaving school. Even statistically, there are far fewer applicants who are inclined to study, say, geology or quantum technologies, which require a deep level of knowledge in physics, mathematics, and other related sciences, while the demand for such specialists is on the rise. 

A relatively small number of families are willing to motivate their children to study mathematics and physics from an early age, to ensure that they will obtain a degree in engineering. There is a tendency to take the path of least resistance. The humanities seem easier. What is more is that the size of the income or salary you can get does not always motivate to choose a complex and high-impact career path. This problem is discussed at various levels and we need to solve this problem. This is our reality.

All these circumstances influence what parents choose for their children since in the fourth grade a child usually cannot say that they want to study advanced mathematics. These circumstances also influence children. As a result, when a pupil in grades 8 to 10 starts planning which Unified State Exams they will take, it may be too late. Specialised mathematics should be started in the 5th grade, to ensure that pupils can gradually deepen their knowledge. By doing so, we can ensure that children are interested in this subject. If we fail in this endeavour, more than half of schoolchildren will choose the Unified State Exam in social studies and therefore cannot get a degree in applied computer science or physics. Interestingly, more and more schoolchildren are taking Unified State Exams in applied computer science or physics, but it is still not enough to make up for the labour shortage in the future, say, in the engineering field. It is vital for us to understand that not all students in these fields will be able to complete their studies to get a relevant degree at serious universities. 

I can confidently advise applicants to choose what is in demand. The most acute shortage, as I have mentioned, is in the engineering field and manufacturing industries. Unfortunately, many pupils start thinking about where to continue their studies when they are already senior pupils. It is rather late. They should do it earlier.

How successfully, in your opinion, has St Petersburg University narrowed the gap between employers’ expectations and the requirements set by traditional educational standards? 

Probably, many people know that in 2023, Russia initiated an experiment to introduce significant changes in the field of higher education. By the Presidential Executive Order dated 12 May 2023, six universities entered the pilot project to change the levels of professional education. How was this idea initiated? There is a stereotype in public opinion that Soviet education was good and we need to return to Soviet education. Yet, no one knows what the Soviet model was, except that it had a bias towards fundamental training. And no one thought about employers, whether they needed graduates with such competencies. Once I happened to read the 1964 resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR on the transition to practice-oriented training. Does this mean that they also thought that theory was not enough? Why is Soviet education thought to be better?

Fundamental education is about a high level of theoretical training, developing your analytical skills, and critical professional thinking to make you able to adapt to constantly changing requirements. Employers have always expressed the opinion that university graduates in the workplace do not know what to do, how to work, how to integrate into teams. Especially in recent years, it has become a common requirement for new employees to have effective communication skills, teamwork skills, and other cross-professional skills, e.g. time-management skills, an ability to make reports on time, prepare necessary documents, and competently present the results of their work. Should universities teach all these skills? Partly yes. However, this is not everything we should focus on. No one needs a specialist without deep professional knowledge.

It is essential to reach a balance between the content of academic programmes and the competencies being developed. Graduates should have fundamental knowledge to understand the essence of their profession, through a scientific approach that underpins an academic programme. We must help them acquire supra-professional skills at least at a basic level. These tasks are solved by educational clinics, where we give students the opportunity to solve real-world problems in a business environment. I have been teaching at the Legal Clinic at St Petersburg University for almost 25 years and the first thing I discuss with students is the fact that a lawyer must be able to write correctly, speak professionally and draw up documents properly. Being able to speak and write well, communicate your thoughts with clarity and precision, draw up documents properly, and respect people is essential. Otherwise, an employer will not take you seriously. We say you need to be organised, neat, and disciplined. A minimum set of these skills is required in any field. You need to think about how to develop these skills early at university. If you meet the standards that employers set, you are more likely to be offered a higher salary.

The University’s task is to collaborate with employers to create work-ready graduates, to ensure that graduates of St Petersburg University not only receive the competencies outlined in the curriculum, but are also better prepared for the challenges of the labour market.

What seems to be tricky is that many young people do not want to work in typical forms of employment. Working in a serious company means that most of your working life is spent within fairly strict rules, and they want more freedom and opportunities to show themselves. In recent years, the share of self-employed people, individual entrepreneurs and those who choose platform employment has increased. The University is therefore facing a problem: we can prepare as many graduates as required, but how can we ensure that they go into the jobs that are available on the labour market?

Recognition in the Internet environment and social media comes quickly, but it does not last long. Today, you are famous, and, tomorrow, you are nobody. Professional recognition from society and the people who you work for is a completely different level of your own professional development. You need to be well aware of this. When you are young, this is not always possible. Many of our students say that they do not want to work for someone, but wish to open their own small business, IT bureau, or develop their own start-ups. Yet, this is a very arduous task. Sometimes, a return to a traditional workplace is inevitable. There are also those who try themselves in different jobs, although they have evident potential for professional growth and development as an employee of a specific organisation. 

People who are engaged in platform employment are often not registered anywhere or, at best, have the status of self-employed people who provide various services. It is a wide-spread practice today. However, for the market, a university graduate is a young specialist who is in demand. It is great that in our time there are more opportunities for earning money, but when there is an acute labour shortage, each person with professional competences is of particular value. In other words, if they ‘make soaps’ at home, a very necessary job for the country and society remains unoccupied.