The 8th St Petersburg International Youth Labour Forum at St Petersburg University

The event opened with the plenary session ‘Success Formula: Given — Find — Solution’. Representatives of the academic environment, government and business told students about the main expectations and requirements of employers for the younger generation. Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities at St Petersburg University, addressed the discussion participants with a welcoming speech: "Labour is our traditional value. We have forgotten a little about this, although everything that we have was created by human hands, the power of thought and the efforts of a huge number of people. Now more than ever, it is essential that young people are enthusiastic about self-development and self-fulfilment. What is more important is that they will find their place in the system that is being formed in our country in connection with certain tasks of economic development and import substitution. It is vital that students and future University graduates should think about how they can benefit the country and society, and this becomes an important part of their motivation for their own professional development and work." 

Dmitrii Cherneiko, Chairman of the Committee on Labour and Employment of St Petersburg, focused on the role of humans in the era of rapid development of artificial intelligence, emphasising the role of St Petersburg University in this process. "You are studying at St Petersburg University, which can adopt educational standards. Only two universities in the country have this right, and this must be implemented on the level of practice. There is no need to be afraid that artificial intelligence will replace us. AI processes the knowledge we have already accumulated, and we have to generate new knowledge. If you think that the current situation, economy and life require new skills and knowledge, discuss this with your lecturers so that they add them to academic programmes," recommended Dmitrii Cherneiko. 

The programme of the International Youth Labour Forum also included the Spring Career Day at St Petersburg University. Its exposition took place in the hall of the main academic building of the Mikhailovskaya Dacha campus.

This year, more than 30 companies took part in the large-scale poster session, including Gazprombank, Severstal, SIBUR, Geropharm, St Petersburg Sales Company, and Nexign to name just a few.

In addition to conversations and consultations with employers, information about modern educational technologies was available to participants. The Research and Educational Centre "Digital Technologies in Education" offered to test VR training for public speaking and training in the Minecraft gaming environment, which are used to teach students at St Petersburg University. 

Sergei Lukashkin, Director of the Research and Educational Centre "Digital Technologies in Education" at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University, focuses on the ways to boost the chances for graduates and aspiring specialist for career growth. "It does not matter who you are: a manager or an engineer. To get a chance to develop their talents, an early-career specialist will have to pass an interview, speak at a planning meeting, defend a project and build teamwork. This is exactly why you need soft skills that we demonstrate using virtual reality simulators. For example, by virtual reality simulators you can practice public speaking and project management in a gaming environment," said Sergei Lukashkin, Director of the Research and Educational Centre ‘Digital Technologies in Education’ at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University.

More than 2,000 students attended the Youth Labour Forum and the Spring Career Day this year. As a gift for the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg University from the Russian Post, each participant who registered to take part in the event received an opportunity to send an anniversary postcard with a view of the historical building of the Twelve Collegia to any city across Russia.

"At the beginning of the career path of any early-career specialist, there are always many stressful situations. They are unavoidable. You can change your attitude towards them and the speed of overcoming difficulties. Look at difficulties with humour. Focus at business issues strategically, understanding the meaning of what you do and what you can contribute to society," said Andrei Zhukov, a doctoral student at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University and a speaker at the session "Through mistakes to the stars". 

The first day of the Labour Forum at Mikhailovskaya Dacha offered 40 events for students. Among them were lectures, workshops, quizzes and discussions in four tracks. The first track focused on building a career and professional self-identification; the second track was about acquiring professional experience; the third track discussed the trends in the labour market; and the fourth track focused on entrepreneurship. The organisers of the 8th St Petersburg International Youth Labour Forum are students. Students decided on what the programme would be like, drew up the schedule, and invited speakers. 

"In our organising committee, there are 43 St Petersburg University students and six departments: a programme department, volunteer headquarters, a marketing and PR department, a partner relations department, a participant relations department and the organisers of the scientific conference. Speaking about the marketing and PR department, the key task of this year is to create a visual style for the forum. We have done a lot of work to establish a single and easily recognisable visual code that attracts the attention of the audience. The most important task was the launch of a new communication channel, i.e. the Telegram channel," said Maksim Bogdanov, Head of the marketing and PR department of the St Petersburg International Youth Labour Forum and a student at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University. 

"The Youth Labour Forum is a platform to ensure a dialogue among young people with business, representatives of education, the state, and non-profit organisations. It is also a space for future growth. The forum is being held for the eighth time and students who once came here as participants now act as speakers along with committee chairpersons and company executives. We show that everything is possible. The head of the organising committee this year was a student at St Petersburg University, who once started as a volunteer. At the Youth Labour Forum, both student participants and student organisers develop competencies. This is the special value of this event," said Olga Nikiforova, a lecturer at St Petersburg University, Deputy Chairperson of the Programme Committee of the St Petersburg International Labour Forum.