Not stokers or carpenters: young people are indifferent to working professions
Despite the high demand for working professions in Russia and the active promotion of secondary vocational education, young people prefer to go to universities and only then find a job, according to the analytical data available from Izvestia. The proportion of those who find a job in their specialty is also still higher among university graduates. Higher education is still seen as a social elevator and looks more prestigious in the eyes of society and parents, experts noted.
I didn't go to work
Applicants are more interested in obtaining higher education rather than working professions, analysts told Izvestia. Thus, the majority of those planning to enroll in educational institutions this year will go to university, and only 36% will go to college or technical school, according to Avito Jobs data.
The number of employed graduates of higher and secondary vocational education has been gradually equalizing over the past three years, analysts noted based on Rosstat data. However, for now, jobs are being found more often after university. The situation is similar with employment in the specialty: last year, according to the results of the study, 74% of university graduates and 59% of those who graduated from colleges or technical schools succeeded.
"The key specialties of secondary vocational education (SPE), showing the greatest growth, reflect the priority areas of development of the Russian economy: transport, industry, IT, management," Avito analysts added.
At the beginning of 2025, Anton Kotyakov, Minister of Labor and Social Protection, stated that two thirds of the labor market needs in the next five years are employees with secondary vocational education, and only a third with higher education. And the head of the Ministry of Education, Sergey Kravtsov, noted the record interest in vocational education in 2025: in the first two weeks of the admission campaign, about 450 thousand applications were submitted to colleges and technical schools, which is 200 thousand more than in the same period last year. According to him, technical specialties are especially in demand.
But, as follows from the data of analysts, the share of young people in the industry remains stable, although it is not falling.
Students of the Moscow Transport College
"The industry is interesting in principle, the difficulty is that there are few young people," the study notes. "The share of skilled workers in industry, construction, transport and manufacturing industries among young people has not changed."
Analysts point out that the share of young people (aged 18-29) in the labor market is now almost two times lower than it was 12 years ago. At that time, this number exceeded 20 million.
Since 2013, the participation rate of youth aged 20-24 in the workforce has shown a gradual decline. It was especially noticeable in the period from 2020 to 2022. But in 2024, there was a positive trend, although not too fast: the youth labor force participation rate increased by 0.9 percentage points, reaching 54.1%.
"This indicates a possible restoration of youth interest in labor activity," the authors of the study believe.
The growth of youth activity between the ages of 18 and 24 in the labor market was confirmed to Izvestia by the Director of Research hh.ru Maria Ignatova. From January to May 2025, young applicants aged 18-24 posted or updated almost 9 million of their resumes, which is three times more than in the same period last year.
Among the most popular types of activities among young people aged 18-24 in the last three years are wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, manufacturing, public administration and social security, analysts estimate. Work in the field of hotels and catering establishments, as well as in the field of information and communications, has become more popular among young people. But the share of agriculture, forestry, construction, and education among employed youth has fallen.
Is secondary education equivalent to higher education
It will take several more years for the market to shift its focus from universities to colleges, and there is no reason to expect a rapid effect, says Vadim Dikikh, director of the Department of Digital Development and Admission of Applicants at the State University of Management.
"Most likely, applicants go to universities to a greater extent, since colleges have not yet formed a sufficient image of professions for the new generation," he believes. — Colleges hold an insufficient number of events that tell about the professions in which they train, about partners and practice bases, which are still fewer than universities.
According to statistics, the number of college graduates who continued their studies at universities decreased to 6.8% in 2024, said Airat Satdykov, project director of the Directorate of Priority Educational Initiatives of the RANEPA.
Medical college students during classes
— This is due to the fact that a significant part of graduates immediately enter the labor market, and young people go into military service upon conscription. After that, some of them go to universities, often combining work and study," he explained.
Despite the active promotion of secondary vocational education, universities are still perceived as a more universal trajectory, according to experts interviewed by Izvestia. A lot depends on the position of the graduate's parents — the position "first get a diploma of higher education, then do what you want" is quite stable and strongly influences the decisions of teenagers, says Igor Niesov, head of the Department of Digital Profiling.
Young people and their parents often view higher education as a social lift and a necessary step towards a stable future, Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of the VMT Consult analytical agency, emphasized.
— According to a study by the Higher School of Economics, university graduates earn 1.6 times more on average than holders of an associate degree. This directly affects the choice," she noted.
Nevertheless, the labor market is increasingly targeting specialists with secondary vocational education, she stressed.
— According to the platform "Work of Russia", about 75% of employers report a shortage of such personnel. Specialists in working and applied professions are particularly in demand: in industry, construction, logistics, and IT support. For example, in 2024, there was a steady demand in the regions for locksmiths, electricians, welders, and operators of CNC machines, and these vacancies accounted for up to 30% of all open positions in employment service databases," she said.
At the same time, college graduates often demonstrate a higher adaptability to industrial practice, the expert believes. Ekaterina Kosareva cited monitoring data from the Ministry of Education, according to which employment in the specialty in some regions reaches 80%.
— However, this is not always accompanied by high salaries: on average, vocational education specialists start from 28-32 thousand rubles, while graduates of sought-after university specialties receive 45-50 thousand rubles at the start. The exceptions are certain areas, for example, the oil and gas industry or the aerospace sector, where graduates of technical schools can earn more than 60 thousand rubles in the first months," she said.
Although vocational education has not yet caught up with higher education in terms of status and public perception, for employers it has long been not a secondary resource, but a full-fledged basis for staffing, the expert is sure.
Industrial class in the educational institution of the city of Moscow "Moscow educational complex WEST"
The main reasons for the greater demand for higher education are socio—cultural, says Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company.
— The salary expectations of university graduates are higher than those of college graduates and vocational schools. There is a concept of a career ceiling. In a number of industries – IT, finance — you cannot take leadership positions without higher education," he explained. — In addition, universities have a greater variety of profiles. And they provide an opportunity to pursue a scientific career.
Secondary vocational education trains two types of professionals: skilled workers and employees, and mid-level specialists, Airat Satdykov added.
—And if the number of students in the second track has been growing over the past five years and more than a third are studying at the expense of families, then the number of students in working professions remains the same," he stressed.
The rejuvenation of the labor market, in his opinion, depends not so much on the education system as on the policies of companies that are ready to provide competitive wages, the opportunity to take out a mortgage, transparent career growth, and attractive working conditions.
Students of P.A. Ovchinnikov Polytechnic College
In addition, it is becoming increasingly popular among young people to get both a practical profession and higher education, Anton Sviridenko, Executive Director of the Stolypin Institute of Growth Economics, pointed out.
— There are no contradictions at all. Young people understand that the future of the labor market is uncertain, and they may need both practical skills and knowledge at the higher education level," he explained.
Higher education remains a "quality mark," and many of those who chose secondary vocational education in their youth then enter higher education at a more mature age.
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