Cadre city: over 12.2 million people will be needed by the Russian economy in the next seven years

The next 10-15 years will be a time of major technological breakthrough: the rapid development of artificial intelligence will lead to the departure of workers from a number of professions. Vladimir Putin stated this on December 25 at a meeting of the State Council dedicated to personnel training. New technologies will eventually replace people in trade and finance. At the same time, labor resources will be in demand in the manufacturing industry, education, engineering, science and communications, the president noted. Now the Russian market is faced with a shortage of labor. Starting in 2022, about 2.6 million people are additionally involved in the economy, and another 12.2 million will be needed in the next seven years. What Putin called a more breakthrough technology than space exploration, and why, in his words, it is no longer possible to "live the old-fashioned way" — in the Izvestia article.

How will the labor market change in the coming years

On December 25, almost the entire Russian governor's corps and presidential plenipotentiary representatives in the districts gathered in Moscow. On this day, the last State Council in 2025 gathered in the Kremlin. The final meeting was held in St. George's Hall, the topic was personnel training for the economy. Opening the meeting, Vladimir Putin first of all congratulated everyone present on the upcoming New Year and wished them strength and energy to continue successfully resolving the difficult issues on the agenda. By the way, the coming 2026 will be declared the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia - on the eve of the meeting, the president signed a corresponding decree.

Vladimir Putin also congratulated the participants of the meeting on the 25th anniversary of the State Council. On this occasion, an exhibition was held in the Malachite Foyer of the Kremlin about its history since the foundation of the organ — since 1810, when it was established by the manifesto of Emperor Alexander I. The main advisory body of the country acquired its modern appearance in 2000, when the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation joined it.

"This is a quarter of a century of intense, painstaking and productive work, including in the face of serious and complex challenges," Vladimir Putin stressed. — The issues that are submitted to the State Council for consideration are always significant, important, relevant for the country, for citizens.

The head of state devoted almost the entire speech to the upcoming changes in the labor market and new professional trends. According to his estimates, the next 10-15 years will be a time of major technological breakthrough: it will be a time of rapid development of artificial intelligence. Moreover, this period has already arrived, "literally entered our lives, broke into it," Putin added.

— I have heard a comparison of the ongoing changes and their impact on the development of industries with the implementation of the space program. Indeed, her projects changed the world a lot back then. But I would like to draw your attention, dear colleagues, artificial intelligence is much, much more breakthrough, comprehensive, as they say, end—to-end technology, it is rapidly conquering all spheres of life, automating solutions to a huge number of tasks," the president said.

Therefore, the authorities must respond more actively to modern challenges in personnel matters. Vladimir Putin instructed to create conditions for affordable retraining of employees: we cannot allow a situation where there will be intellectual elites and people who only know how to push buttons, he stressed. Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, shared his experience in working with human resources. The main thing is a systematic approach, he believes. According to him, the Accounts Chamber is constantly undergoing staff retraining. For the new generation, by the way, financial incentives often fall by the wayside.

"Everything is different for everyone: for some, office space, team, tasks, and career growth are important, while for others, the financial side of the issue remains important," he told Izvestia.

AI will gradually replace primary level workers, including creative and intellectual ones, the head of state believes. It will also affect wholesale trade, finance and public administration. At the same time, labor resources will remain in demand in such industries as manufacturing, communications, science, and education. And new technologies will not only replace workers, but also create new vacancies, including in the engineering field, Vladimir Putin added. In the last three or four years, many young people have been enrolling in engineering specialties, Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec, told Izvestia. Previously, economists and lawyers formed the backbone of specialists, but today the interests of young people have changed. About 50% of graduates come to study under the programs of Rostec partner universities.

— We have a lot of [young people whom] we send to universities in a targeted direction. The guys who graduate from them come straight to our company. In some cases, we pay for the training, but they sign contracts, and they are required to work for, say, five years," he added.

How will the Russian education system be changed

Vladimir Putin noted that the achievement of the tasks set for the country depends on the specialists and their professionalism. Against this background, he proposed creating a rating of the 100 worst educational organizations to help them — the Ministry of Labor has already prepared a national rating on the employment of college and university graduates.

— At the same time, I would like to emphasize that a thorough, competent reboot of the entire system is necessary here. We need to pay attention to the development of universities that train personnel in key areas: energy, transport, agriculture, construction, culture, and healthcare," the president said.

The same applies to education. New technologies require the revision of existing ones and the preparation of new training programs and methods, as well as mass retraining of teaching staff at all levels.

— You can't live the old-fashioned way. It is very important not to lose the foundations of our education system at the same time. This is the formation of independent, creative thinking and analytical skills among schoolchildren and students, including critically evaluating proposals generated by AI," the head of state said.

The Governor of the Kaluga Region, Vladislav Shapsha, who heads the commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation on Personnel, proposed the creation of youth career centers in every Russian region. As an example, the Lipetsk region, where the center actually accompanies young people from school to employment.

Many people offered their ideas on how to introduce AI into education. For example, the head of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, came up with the idea of introducing computer science lessons from elementary school: currently, there is already an infrastructure for teaching digital alphabet and cybersecurity. And Mikhail Kotyukov, the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, considers it necessary to update the entire school curriculum in technical disciplines now so that it meets modern achievements in the field of AI. Just as it was done in the middle of the last century, when the country's mathematics teaching program was significantly changed, and as a result, significant contributions were made to nuclear, space and other sectors of the national economy.

What is the labor market situation in Russia?

Currently, there is a shortage of labor in the labor market — for one registered unemployed person with a working profession, there are almost 28 vacancies. Designers, technologists, and designers are in high demand. At the same time, unemployment in the Russian Federation has decreased to a historically low 2.2%, and the share of employed among the economically active population has reached 97.8%. "This is a very high employment rate and historically low unemployment," Vladimir Putin stressed.

At the same time, approximately 5.3 million people in Russia work "from the shadows," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said. The government has already approved a plan to "whitewash" the economy. The legislation introduced additional criteria for labor relations based on established judicial practice, strengthened the responsibility of employers, and also set indicators for regions for the withdrawal of employees from the shadow sector, she said. According to Vladimir Putin, starting from 2022, an additional 2.6 million people are involved in the economy. In almost all regions today, it is necessary to create conditions for increasing the economic activity of residents. Moreover, the president asked to pay special attention to veterans of the special military operation and their family members.

So, in the next seven years, another 12.2 million people need to be involved in the Russian economy by redistributing the employment structure. Graduates who have completed secondary vocational education will account for up to 2/3 of the Russian workforce by 2032, Vladislav Shapsha said.