– What does HR demand look like today? In general, what does industrial personnel supply market look like in Moscow? Is there a staff shortage?
– As for manpower shortage, there is no such thing in Moscow. However, due to the specific nature of the industry, Moscow producers need specialists with a unique professional background, with unique skills, meeting modern production standards. Rapid growth of technologies changes these standards apace, that is the core issue. Moscow industry shows an impressive rise within the city, being financially supported by our department. New technologies are emerging, factories are being equipped with robotics and digitalized, ecological systems are being purchased and installed. It all leads to a shortage of engineers and middle-level professionals in a range of areas since all the processes now have to be managed, and production itself has shifted towards intelligent systems (even cables now are smart!). On the one hand, the current situation gives our products access to successful national and international markets, but on the other hand, every decent well-credentialed professional is worth their weight in gold.
– But how about a common belief that Moscow has the strongest engineering school in the country? Perhaps, it is the salary which is not high enough for such requirements?
– Moscow really is a place where high-ranked engineering universities function, with great teaching staff members and brilliant scientific foundation. And another thing: most of our production employees and research institute members are bright and talented, however they need a way to upgrade their skills in order to offer what's really valuable on the market to their employers, and build successful careers. Fresh graduates at the outset of their professional paths normally lack practical skills, and their first years of work they devote to developing these skills. They are being educated at their working places but the most brilliant are worth pumping up further. And that's where our project MTS steps in.
As for remuneration, Moscow industry shows positive dynamics, and salaries in this sector appear to be quite competitive. In 2019, average salary was 75 000 roubles, last year it grew to 80 000 roubles, and by the end of Q1 2021 it reached 83 000 roubles. I'd like to emphasize that these are average numbers, and Moscow does have companies paying their engineers and leading technologists over 300 000 roubles.
– As far as I know, factories and universities in Moscow have strong ties. Students tour production facilities, do internships there, and when employed, they get mentorship from masters of engineering. As for experienced workers, there is an opportunity for targeted retraining. Is this really not enough?
– Moscow manufacturers and universities interact on hiring issues and use all the standard paths of such cooperation. It is necessary to scale this process up, to make it reachable for more companies, and take into account producers' present-day needs. It is not a pointless initiative; we've got numerous requests from producers and developed this project to help them.
Turning to masters of engineering, if you wish to use this language, they have limited capabilities as humans living in a fluid technological reality. Typically, they are classical engineers who can share basic professional knowledge with a newcomer, provide him/her with a strong foundation, but even these masters are not able to keep up with the high-tech of these days. When diving into specific, modern trends formed over the last 5-7 years, classical engineers also lack critical skills. We are now experiencing groundbreaking changes that we haven't seen before.