The head of the Skolkovo management school: every second Russian starts working before the age of majority

44% of Russians try to start working before reaching the age of majority. Alexander Kim, head of the Skolkovo School of Management, spoke about this at conference “Kommersant” “#VDELE”, dedicated to education in the modern economy.

According to him, this is a distinctive feature of the Russian labor market. Globally, about a third of students (aged 18–24) combine education or training with some form of work: within or outside of a study program.

At the same time, according to him, the generation of “zoomers” is the smallest able-bodied age group in Russia. According to the Skolkovo Education Transformation Center, it accounts for the Russian demographic “pit” of the 1990s (the second “echo” of the Great Patriotic War and the economic crisis). Of the 25 million Russian zoomers, 41% are schoolchildren (12–17 years old), 30% are students (18–22 years old), 11% are young professionals, and 18% are “young starters” (25–27 years old). “Growing competition for them from universities and employers is growing,” said Alexander Kim.

The risk, according to Mr. Kim, lies in the fact that 39% of Russian students are oriented towards professions that can be automated in the next 10 years, which may lead to a decrease in the offer from employers: “It seems to us that young people are not sufficiently aware of the opportunities employment.” According to Skolkovo, polls show a “deep discrepancy” between the expectations of experts and employers and what young people aspire to.

The percentage of young people who are not employed anywhere and are not studying anywhere (NEET, “not in employment, education or training”) in Russia has remained almost unchanged for two decades. Now 15% of young people aged 15-24 belong to this group, which is in line with the world level. The lack of dynamics shows that this problem is intractable, and the very presence of NEET youth is a symptom of a poorly coordinated system (mismatch of skills, low labor productivity, low wages, etc.), Skolkovo believes.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the Center for Education Transformation among graduates of the Skolkovo programs, 100% of respondents stated the relevance of changes in schools and 65.5% – the need to reform university education. Slightly fewer complaints arose from advanced training programs (43.1%) and colleges (41.4%). Changes in corporate training programs were considered relevant by 20.7% of respondents.