Rural labor market: Agricultural education, agrarian involvement and rural settlement of younger workers

Abstract

In the past two decades, the transformation of the agricultural sector of the Russian economy has significantly changed the situation in the rural labor market. Its supply has not met the employers’ requests, since they focus on the latest technological base of agricultural production. The traditional confidence in the labor surplus in rural areas has gradually lost its relevance, and representatives of the municipal authorities and agribusiness admitted the shortage of workers and gaps in specialized education. Moreover, the personnel shortage has become predominantly structural: there are not enough workers in certain, in-demand specialties. Based on the data of the indepth interviews with employers, the article examines the main barriers to meeting the demand for qualified specialists in the agricultural sector. The author describes possibilities and features of the potential labor supply due to the influx of the youth by summarizing the data of the survey conducted at one of the largest agricultural universities in Russia, focusing on students’ professional motivation and future employment. The difficulties in attracting and retaining younger workers are determined by the need to consider and solve problems within the implemented and planned changes in the spatial development model - from an integrated and initiative transformation of rural areas to the development of large-scale “rural agglomerations”. Based on the student opinions, the author makes some practical conclusions about possible changes in agricultural education and rural development policy.