The Ministry of Agriculture proposes to issue grants for the training of specialists needed in the agro-industrial complex

The Ministry of Agriculture proposes to issue grants to educational organizations that train specialists in the professions most in demand in the agro-industrial complex (AIC), a draft resolution was published yesterday on regulation.gov.ru. The duration of training programs for such workers is on average three to six months, and therefore, the ministry suggests, the measure should help quickly solve the problem of a “critical” personnel shortage in the sector. We are talking about a shortage of at least 173 thousand people, the need for which has not yet been met by increasing labor productivity through the use of new technologies. The situation is complicated by the fact that competition between the agro-industrial complex for personnel (primarily with industry) is only growing.

The draft government decree published yesterday by the Ministry of Agriculture on regulation.gov.ru suggests the launch of new measures to form a “personnel reserve” in the agro-industrial sector. The Ministry proposes to provide grants to educational organizations engaged in training workers in the professions and specialties most in demand for the agro-industrial complex. The project is expected to be implemented in pilot mode in 2024; its extension and transformation in the future will depend on the analysis of the “test” results. The average grant per student will not exceed 60 thousand rubles—the amount was chosen taking into account the fact that the specialist training programs that the sector currently needs last about three to six months.

The Ministry of Agriculture expects that the proposed measure will create a personnel reserve for the agricultural sector “in a short time.” The labor demand in the sector is at least 173 thousand people, as stated in the explanatory note to the draft resolution. In November, First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Agriculture Oksana Lut spoke about a slightly more serious deficit – 200 thousand people. The official then called the issue of its closure “key” for the ministry.

It should be noted that the widespread introduction of new technologies into the agro-industrial complex (from automatic irrigation systems to unmanned vehicles for cultivating fields) could solve the problem of labor shortage – and in the future, free up some of those employed in the sector. The active penetration of “digital” is assumed, in particular, by the updated strategy for the digital transformation of the agro-industrial complex (see “Kommersant” on December 5), but so far the process is noticeably slowed down by dependence on imported technologies – thus, closing the personnel shortage by increasing productivity is not expected in the near future.

As follows from the statements of Ms. Lut and other representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the labor shortage in the sector is largely due to the fact that wages in the agricultural sector are still below average. This is confirmed by Rosstat data, according to which the average salary for all types of activities in the first three quarters of 2023 was slightly more than 70 thousand rubles, and in agriculture – about 51 thousand rubles. The change in the ratio of average wages in the agro-industrial complex and the industry competing with the sector for personnel can also be considered indicative: if before this year, wages in agriculture “caught up” with wages in manufacturing, now (see graph) the dynamics have reversed.

It should be noted that sectoral competition for personnel existed even before the Russian military operation in Ukraine, and after it began it only intensified. The desire to attract labor during this year was reflected in a variety of initiatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture – the latter, in particular, began to issue subsidies for the creation of agrobiotechnoparks (by analogy with industrial technoparks, see Kommersant on March 21).

Kristina Borovikova