According to the latest data, the agricultural sector is short of about 200 thousand people.
The shortage of personnel threatens to become a very big problem for the agro-industrial complex.
In particular, according to experts, today there is a shortage of machine operators, fitters, welders, as well as agronomists, engineers and livestock specialists.
The fact that in Russia today there is a significant shortage of personnel, which is manifested not only in agriculture, but also in other industries, also leaves its mark.
The low unemployment rate means that it is extremely difficult to find the necessary specialists.
Another big problem is that in recent years the rural population in Russia has decreased by 700 thousand people.
As a result, there are few people in rural areas, and few want to move there. This exacerbates the difficulties of farmers in finding personnel.
According to analysts, this problem should be solved comprehensively.
— Personnel for the agro-industrial complex should be trained in educational institutions.
Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture is building a so-called «seamless» training system, from agricultural classes in schools to higher education institutions.
It is planned that such classes will be created mainly in rural areas. At the same time, the «customer» of such initiatives is business, so the training will be conducted taking into account its specific needs.
In 2024, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, 80 thousand people entered the first years of educational institutions providing training in the agricultural sector.
At the same time, 350 thousand people submitted applications — it is obvious that the capacity of universities to recruit students is limited, their expansion could also help overcome the existing difficulties.
— Improve living conditions in rural areas.
The lack of infrastructure and entertainment, low transport accessibility of many areas leads to the fact that young people have low motivation to go there.
The program for the integrated development of rural areas cannot fully cope with its task, since it is underfunded.
— Increase the attractiveness of the agro-industrial complex and agricultural specialties, as well as individual brands of companies operating in this area.
In addition, the industry should be made more modern, including through digitalization, automation and robotization of processes.
True, this will require new specialists, for example, IT specialists, data analysts, and they will have to compete for them not with other agro-industrial companies, but with IT companies and banks.
Thus, to solve the issue, a comprehensive transformation of the agro-industrial complex will be required, which is an ambitious task that will have to be solved in the next few years.
