Employers are in no hurry to hire young specialists without experience

Employers, even against the backdrop of the current labor shortage, remain wary of young job seekers with no experience – their salary offers have remained virtually unchanged over the year, according to a survey by the personnel company Kontakt InterSearch Russia. Experts note that students and recent graduates can largely count on the interest of large companies in them, while small and medium-sized businesses prefer to hire ready-made specialists with experience.

The shortage of personnel has not forced employers to begin actively hiring young specialists, according to a survey by Kontakt InterSearch Russia. More than 800 young job seekers and company representatives took part in it. According to the data received, the level of salary offers to young specialists has remained virtually unchanged over the year and amounts to 41–60 thousand rubles. per month. Let us recall that the national average increase in wages in real terms over the year, according to Rosstat, exceeded 7%.

According to the marketing director of flexible employment platform Ventra Go! Anna Larionova, business is ready to hire young people, but this mainly applies to projects that do not require qualifications, for example, as mass personnel. “For a number of industries and positions, employers continue to demand employees with expertise,” she notes.

Olga Sapozhnikova, senior consultant at the HR company UTEAM, meanwhile, believes that in conditions of personnel shortages, companies are increasingly considering novice specialists for employment. “Business is ready to hire young employees with little work experience and invest in their training in order to meet their need for qualified personnel in the future. This is especially true for such areas as IT, manufacturing, construction, tourism, all areas of sales and customer service,” the expert notes.

Partner at the recruiting company Cornerstone, Vladislav Bykhanov, notes that both of these trends may now be present in the labor market. While large businesses are ready to hire young specialists for targeted programs, small and medium-sized enterprises are “psychologically” not ready to interact with recent graduates. “The owners of such companies are not ready to put up with the salary demands of young specialists: recent graduates can claim a salary of 100 thousand rubles, while experienced specialists will ask only 20–50% more,” notes Vladislav Bykhanov.

As follows from a Kontakt InterSearch Russia survey, young job seekers consider business and finance, IT, construction and real estate to be the most attractive areas for employment. They would least like to work in agriculture, light industry and the security sector. 39% of surveyed students and graduates would like to work in an international company, 17% in a Russian one, for 22% this issue is not important. It is noteworthy that only 53% of respondents plan to work in the specialty obtained at a higher educational institution.

White wages are important for 37% of young professionals, 62% agree to gray wages if it helps them earn more. 42% of respondents would like to develop expert skills and become a professional in their field, without linking this with obtaining leadership positions. 30% are betting on creating their own business, 20% plan to rise to top managers.

Kontakt InterSearch Russia partner Anastasia Staseva notes two important trends identified by the survey. “Young professionals prefer career development in the expert “horizontal” field; for the majority, “vertical” career growth is not a key indicator of success – this is a trend that continues to actively develop in recent years,” she says. “The proportion of young people who want to try themselves is also growing. in your own business. This will encourage employers to develop an entrepreneurial culture.”

Anastasia Manuilova