A
roundtable on ‘Employment and Careers for Young Professionals in Russia: The
Challenges of Our Time’ was held at the Federation Council. The event was
attended by Deputy CEO of the Roscongress Foundation Maria Kiseleva, who spoke
about the involvement of the socially oriented non-financial development
institution in training volunteers and young professionals.
Also
present at the event was First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee
on Social Policy and coordinator of the Chamber of Young Legislators under the
Federation Council Alexander Varfolomeev. The senator acknowledged that,
against the backdrop of the pandemic and the current conditions on the global
labour market, which has seen an increase in unemployment and a drop in
incomes, young people have become one of the most vulnerable social groups and
the demand for young professionals has fallen significantly. “Governments must
draw up a coordinated set of measures to help young people realize their
potential, supporting them from the moment they choose their profession and
begin training until their graduation and the day they start their first job,”
he said.
The
parliamentarian claimed that more and more young people are being forced to
take jobs outside their area of expertise, regardless of their level of
qualification. Young people sometimes enter the shadow economy or become
economically dependent, registering as unemployed in order to receive benefits.
“Measures
are of course being taken in our country to support and address the issue of
youth unemployment,” the senator continues. He made reference to the law on
youth policy adopted at the end of 2020, which provides labour and employment
guarantees to young people, promotes the employment of young citizens and
supports their professional growth. “At the end of last year, the Government of
the Russian Federation approved a long-term programme to promote youth
employment to 2030. Its implementation will create the conditions for the
realization of young people’s professional, labour and entrepreneurial
potential,” he added.
Varfolomeev
discussed the emerging contradictions between the educational services market
and the real economy as it exists today. Universities must help applicants to
make a conscious decision about their future profession and respond flexibly to
the labour market’s requirements for professionals during the admissions
process in order to overcome these contradictions.
According
to chair of the Chamber of Young Legislators Alexander Sapronov, current trends
such as digitalization, globalization and openness are driving major changes in
the labour market. Many new forms of employment and training are emerging, some
professions are disappearing, and young people are having to plan their lives
and careers admist constantly fluctuating economic and labour market
conditions. “The new reality means that the work of employment services must be
redirected, shifting the focus from a passive employment policy that supports
the unemployed to a proactive format. A targeted approach to each specific
applicant is required,” he said.
Dmitry
Bubnov, the chair of the Committee on Sports and Youth Policy of the Chamber of
Young Legislators also spoke at the session, noting that there is a demand for
a new type of professional in the digital economy who is able to deal with
tasks requiring a creative approach and willing to work alongside other people
and artificial intelligence systems. “The skillset required by the labour
market is gradually transforming. We are talking about the skills of the
future, many of which have already been forecast and identified,” he said.
Deputy CEO
of the Roscongress Foundation Maria Kiseleva spoke about the involvement of the
socially oriented non-financial development institution in training volunteers
and young professionals for major Russian and international events. Also
mentioned were the Roscongress Foundation’s School Friend project, a special
programme supporting the psychological and emotional adaptation of young people
for office work and Talanty, an intelligence platform for career guidance,
testing and employment which is set to become a logical continuation of the
Foundation’s volunteer programme and employment initaitives for young
professionals.
“The
Roscongress Foundation is working continuously to help young professionals take
their first steps towards work experience and formal employment, and acquire
the knowledge and skills needed to begin a successful career. After looking at
the skills and competencies of the young people who have worked with us as
volunteers and young professionals, we decided that we needed a comprehensive
approach to the high-quality employment of young people and the development of
a state-level mechanism to find effective solutions in this area. In view of
this, we welcome initiatives to organize events and projects focusing on the
employment and professional careers of young Russian graduates, and are willing
to play an active role,” said Deputy CEO of the Roscongress Foundation Maria
Kiseleva. “Given our position at the forefront of the labour market for young
professionals, we often meet young professsionals at the crossroads of the two
tectonic plates known as ‘study’ and ‘work’, which represent successive stages
in the life of a young person. While bridges are often built to connect them,
what is actually needed is a multi-lane highway unobstructed by congestion or
traffic lights. The Roscongress Foudation’s volunteer programme and initiatives
to identify and employ young people are the logical next step of our socially oriented
activities and our belief that young people’s ability to achieve their goals,
their creative energy and their potential will always be needed by society,”
she added.
At the end of the session, the participants
put together a set of recommendations for relevant departments concerning the
need to adopt new measures and introduce tools to improve quantitative and
qualitative indicators for the promotion of youth employment in the Russian
Federation, and to scale up best practices in career guidance and employment
for graduates and young professionals.
The session was also attended by deputy
director of the Department for Employment and Labour Migration of the Ministry
of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Denis Shamgunov,
deputy director of the Department for State Youth Policy and Education of the
Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valentina
Shalashnikova, head of the Centre for Youth Initiatives of the Agency for
Strategic Initiatives Alexander Vaino, members of the Chamber of Young Legislators under the
Federation Council, and representatives of the professional community.
