Today, construction is among the top 5 industries with the highest shortage of personnel. In search of an answer to the personnel question, real estate market players go to colleges and schools
Recently, Deputy Chairman of the Khabarovsk Territory Government for Construction Kerim Sungurov, Khabarovsk Mayor Sergei Kravchuk, President of ASRO ROS Soyuz, member of the NOSTRA Council Svetlana Dianova, university rectors and school principals signed an agreement on the opening of engineering classes in Khabarovsk schools and lyceums.
From September 1, 2024, specialized engineering training according to a special educational program will start at the lyceum “Vector” and gymnasium No. 8 in Khabarovsk: students of grades 10-11 will be able to get acquainted in depth with construction specialties.
“Today, there is a large shortage of personnel in the construction sector, both in working specialties and in engineering. As an industry organization, we raised this issue two years ago, studied the experience of other regions of Russia and saw that many subjects organize engineering classes. I brought this initiative to the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Education of the Khabarovsk Territory, and it is gratifying that the regional government supported the idea. A lot of joint work has been done. We have identified the main schools and universities with which we will jointly develop this educational direction in Khabarovsk,” says Svetlana Dianova.
Representatives of universities (first of all, we are talking about the Far Eastern State University of Railways and Pacific State University) are ready to teach children in specialized classes, the most successful students will receive additional points upon admission. In turn, potential employers (construction organizations — members of the SRO) will hold meetings within the walls of the school, field trips and excursions to their enterprises, where high school students will be able to get acquainted in detail with various construction professions.
Of course, it is unlikely that every graduate of the engineering class will decide to stay in construction, but something needs to be done. “Now the construction industry is among the top 5 industries with the highest personnel shortage,” says Anton Glushkov, President of the National Association of Builders (NOSTROY). The number of vacancies increased by 31% compared to 2022.
According to HeadHunter, concrete workers, rebarers and monoliths are in the lead among the required specialists (40%), followed by finishing specialists (20%), welders and masons (12% each), road workers (5%). And even auxiliary workers are in short supply at the moment. “According to the Ministry of Construction, 12 million people are currently employed in construction, housing and communal services and related industries. At the same time, 185,472 vacancies in the construction industry are posted on the portal “Jobs in Russia”. It is planned to attract up to 400 thousand people to the industry by 2030, the press service of the department noted,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote in March this year.
The fact that it is necessary to satisfy the personnel hunger not only at the expense of migrant workers is said from high tribunes, in ministerial offices, and in HR departments of development and construction companies everywhere. Question: how to satisfy? How to attract your own to construction sites, construction factories, construction and development companies? It is easy to say that it is impossible to raise industry prestige, it is impossible to increase salaries indefinitely, and at some stage it simply stops working — as Maria Bolshakova, adviser to the president of the Union of Directors of the SPO, a member of the public chamber of the Moscow region, emphasizes, money does not always solve everything.
Maria Bolshakova, Advisor to the President of the Union of Directors of the SPO, member of the Public Chamber of the Moscow region, “It is important to understand that the current generation is very different from the generation of employers. Compliance with labor laws, respectful interaction and professional recognition are critically important for young people. Now more than 65% of children after the 9th grade choose to study at colleges. Moreover, working specialties (professionalism) are in high demand. On the other hand, all large companies are critically interested in high-quality personnel involved. Absolutely all system-forming structures organize models of professional involvement of college students. I would like real estate companies to also work out this win-win model, in which graduates will know that they are expected, that there is a social package and corporate culture is respected at all levels, not just in the office.”
Khabarovsk engineering classes are far from the only example of this kind in Russia and one more proof: real estate market players have recognized that the rescue of drowning people is the work of drowning people themselves. If earlier companies mainly took part in the training of university students for themselves and even opened their own departments for this, now schools and colleges are in the area of their closest attention. Moreover, as the head of the technical service of Technonicol, Valeria Lychits, emphasizes, “many companies are actively working with students of secondary specialized institutions today. As a result, graduate students, if they are not yet settled, already have a very clear idea of their future place of work. But it’s more difficult and more interesting with schoolchildren.”
Photo: the press service of the Donstroy company
On the one hand, schoolchildren live in an age of absolute accessibility of information, on the other hand, in adolescence they face serious barriers to choosing a future profession. “Uncertainty, misunderstanding of how many things work in industry, lead to the fact that it is easier for children to choose specialties that are spoken about louder and more often. Therefore, IT needs no introduction, but few people understand who an engineer, designer or technologist is. It is not just important to work with schoolchildren, we need to work with them if we want charged and involved specialists to come to the profession. It is business that should charge them,” the expert believes, explaining why Technonicol, which previously, like many, only invited schoolchildren to its production, decided to build work in a new way this year.
“Schoolchildren have one superpower: if they are interested in any topic, they will move mountains to learn everything and even more. But there is also a difficulty: it is not so easy to interest the guys, a boring lecture about products and a story about the prospects of working at the factory are definitely not suitable here. In my case, I took the initiative myself: I turned to my friend, the principal of the school, and offered myself as a presenter. I had experience working with children, moreover, a few years ago I even developed textbooks for children. Therefore, life hack: send only specialists to schools who are ready to talk to children and find approaches to them. Half of the success is already hidden in this,” Valeria Lychits shares her conclusions.
Together with the marketing department, the theme of the training meetings “The House in which we live” was prepared, and a near-game format was invented. It turns out that even about extrusion styrofoam, you can tell fun, interesting and demonstrate clearly. This year, Valeria Lychits worked with elementary school students from the third grade, and next year plans to include in the program a series of speeches on professions and examples of self—realization, as well as lectures with an emphasis on career guidance: the company plans to work with high school students, and not only in Moscow.
“We have not talked about our experience publicly, but information differs, and today we received a request for a lecture from schools in Kazan and St. Petersburg. In the modern world, children grow up early, think about the future early, and at the age of 12, many are already starting to look for a direction. But many people tend to romanticize professions. And business in this sense helps students to build a more real connection: our task is to talk about the opportunities that the profession provides, and to reveal both sides, including the hidden one,” Valeria Lychits is sure.
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Of course, working with schoolchildren is, firstly, an additional burden, and secondly, the result is not always obvious to business: there are no guarantees that the investments will pay off. Technonicoli thinks differently.
Dmitry Ryndin, Operations Director of Polymer Insulation at Technonicol, “Solving personnel issues, business has been working with educational institutions for a long time, most often these are universities or colleges. And almost no one went to school, at most they invited children to the production. But in order to help children with professional orientation, charge them with the atmosphere, immerse them in the profession and interest them, excursions alone are not enough. There is a persistent stereotype that it is not prestigious to work at a factory. That is why it is so important for children to show that such work provides stability, security, good income and opportunities to unlock their potential. We decided to start working with students in a systematic format, by the time they graduate from school they will be able to get a broader idea not only of where they want to study, but also where to work after graduation or college. They will be familiar with the company. Let’s add an industrial practice in the course of training, and by the time we get a job, we will get a specialist who will need less time to adapt.”
And it’s not just Technonicol that thinks that way. Even a short study of the topic convinced BFM.ru : The interaction of real estate companies with schoolchildren and college students is rich in surprises. More on that next time.
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