Diploma defense – Newspaper Kommersant No. 178 (7379) dated 09/27/2022

Participants in the IT, telecommunications and media markets are very concerned that in order to receive a deferment from the mobilization announced by the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Defense, employees need a specialized higher education. In IT, only a third of specialists have it, in the media – sometimes less than half. Things are a little better in telecom, where about 65% of employees meet the criteria. Market participants insist that it is incorrect to consider education as a key factor in protecting employees. The Ministry of Digital Development does not argue with this, but emphasizes that they are acting “within the framework of the decisions of the Ministry of Defense.”

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the study of the recruiting portal HeadHunter (HH.ru) on the personnel market in the IT industry. It follows from it that 170 thousand male developers and programmers who posted their resumes on the portal in 2022 do not have a specialized higher education. This is about 66% of the total number of relevant resumes. In general, among employees of the IT industry (in addition to developers, the sample includes, for example, product managers, managers, etc.), 74% do not have higher education. The older the specialists, the less often they have specialized higher education. For example, among developers aged 18–24, 42% have a specialized higher education, and among people 45 and older, 22%, HH.ru notes.

After the start of partial mobilization in the Russian Federation, which, according to the authorities, should affect 300 thousand reservists, representatives of a number of industries sent proposals to the relevant ministries and departments to grant a deferment for key employees (see Kommersant from September 22nd, 23 September and September 26). So did IT companies, telecom operators and the media.

As a result, on September 23, the Ministry of Digital Development was one of the first specialized regulators released official clarifications in which cases employees of enterprises supervised by the ministry will be able to count on a deferment from mobilization.

IT companies must be accredited by the Ministry of Digital Development and be present in the register of the regulator, telecom operators must be involved “in ensuring the stability, security and integrity of the functioning of individual communication facilities, communication facilities and communication lines of the public communication network, as well as data processing centers”, the media must be officially registered and “included in the list of backbone involved in the production and dissemination of information products.”

Among the media, according to the list of backbone organizations published by the Ministry of Economy, the largest media holdings that manage TV channels and radio stations meet the criteria, including Gazprom Media (NTV, TNT, Match TV), National Media Group (Channel One, STS ), VGTRK (Russia 1, Russia 24), European Media Group (Europe Plus, Road Radio), Russian Media Group (Russian Radio, Hit FM). Also on the list are large publishing houses (including JSC Publishing House Komsomolskaya Pravda, JSC Arguments and Facts, JSC Kommersant, RBC, etc.), news agencies (TASS, MIA Rossiya Segodnya).

Kommersant’s sources say that there is no complete certainty on the criteria for deferment for media workers: “This topic has not yet been officially registered.”

For the industry, as for IT, the issue of higher education can be critical. The fact is that in many publishing houses the vast majority of employees do not have a specialized higher education in the field of journalism or communications, Kommersant sources in the industry say (the media holdings refused to make official comments), and according to what criteria they will receive deferrals from mobilization, It’s not clear yet.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutors in the IT market, the main discussion here is related to what kind of higher education is considered profile. Even in the largest Russian IT companies, the number of specialists with obviously specialized education is small. So, more than 20% of the employees of Ozon Technologies (which unites Ozon engineers and developers) do not have a specialized higher education in the field of IT, including the heads of development teams, the company explained to Kommersant.

Practice shows that it is “not entirely correct” to consider specialized education as a key factor in making such decisions, says Positive Technologies: “The greatest value has always been the technical competencies of employees, which they do not always acquire in educational institutions. We have a number of highly qualified technical experts with, for example, linguistic education, cooks, teachers, economists, even psychologists – and this is not a complete list.

The situation is a little better in telecommunications, Kommersant’s sources say in this market. For example, one of the major Russian communication providers clarified that about 65% of the company’s employees have a specialized higher education: “Communication engineers and IT specialists who provide maintenance of the telecom infrastructure have a specialized education.” The interlocutor of Kommersant added that, as a rule, employees of contact centers, service offices and sales centers do not have a specialized higher education. A Kommersant source in another large company added that “a significant number of employees” have a specialized higher education.

On September 26, Maksut Shadayev, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, specified that the ministry had already prepared an order approving the necessary list of specialties for deferment from partial mobilization: “These will not only be developers’ specialties.” Regarding the selection criteria, the minister emphasized: “We live within the framework of the decision that was agreed upon by the Ministry of Defense, as long as it is higher education.”

Department of Media and Telecommunications