MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Representatives of the North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) offered Arctic districts to follow Yakutia’s suit and introduce quotas on university graduates without working experience that can be employed by state organizations, the University’s Vice Rector Yuri Danilov told the 6th international conference Arctic 2021.
"[Yakutia] has a law on employment of young specialists <...> by state organizations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)," he said. "We invite other regions to join this legislative initiative."
According to the law, an organization, where up to a hundred people work, has to offer at least 1% of jobs to graduates of colleges and universities. If an organization employs more than 100 people, graduates should hold no less than 2% of jobs. The list of the openings and procedures to create the latter are regulated by Yakutia’s government.
Earlier, Yakutia’s Governor Aisen Nikolayev noted that the authorities prioritize the IT sector, due to which it is important to attract young specialists to entrepreneurship in technological development.
NEFU has assisted its graduates in finding jobs. The university cooperates with headhunters and organizes career fairs. The university will continue training specialists for the Far East and the eastern part of the Russian Arctic Zone but will also try to access international level. The vice rector pointed to a high demand for specialists in medicine, tourism and teaching.
He also suggested additional incentives under the Regional Doctor and Regional Teacher programs in the Arctic Zone to attract more young specialists. Those could be the reimbursement of travel expenses, free access to information networks, up-to-date equipment and technologies, kindergarten admission for their children and an allowance of 1,000,000 rubles ($13,000) to improve housing conditions in case a specialist extends an employment contract for another five years.
Basic departments
The conference’s other participants said creating university departments, specializing in the Arctic, is another solution to attracting human resources to the Russian Arctic Zone.
The International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry’s MGIMO University has two Master programs: Legal Support for Energy Cooperation in Developing Arctic Oil and Gas Resources and International Business in the Oil and Gas Sector, which are organized in cooperation with Norway, the Institute’s Deputy Director Igbal Guliyev said.
"The Institute pays special attention to practice-oriented training," he said. "For this purpose, we have opened basic departments of leading companies - Rosneft, Transneft, Nornickel, Gazprombank, etc. Presently, we continue talks on a department of Rosseti. <…> We have scientific projects. One of them is a joint Arctic research center with the UK’s University of St Andrews."
The institute’s students engage in the Arctic research club's activities, which include a Model Arctic Council and the annual Arctic Week.
Director of the Polytechnic Institute (a subsidiary of NEFU) in Mirny, Evgeny Solovyev, underlined that the basic department of Rosneft attracts Yakut youth to the industry. Second-year students take an internship at facilities of the Alrosa diamond mining company. According to the institute’s representative, the institute plans to open Alrosa’s department soon.
Consolidated efforts in education
Head of the program to train specialists for the North and the Arctic at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) Vera Smorchkova, in her turn, said representatives of the universities, which have special Arctic departments, should meet more often to share their experience.
"The recent years of active developments in the Arctic have indicated a very high demand for human resources. <…> As yet, we fail to meet the market’s demand to provide staff for the current big projects. <…> It is important to work closely with the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic and with other subordinate organizations and to unite efforts in training specialists for the Arctic," she said.
A leading expert at the Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe Natalia Govorova said it would be necessary to provide more university places in the Arctic proper.
"It may be possible to attract talents by creating new high-quality jobs and modern infrastructure - transport, housing, education and recreation facilities included," she said.
The experts agreed that one of the best solutions to resolve the issue of shortage of human resources in the Arctic could be developing WorldSkills standards for training specialists in the Arctic.
Education as part of strategy of Arctic development
The national strategy to develop the Russian Arctic Zone through 2035 implies development of federal and other higher-education institutions, their integration with scientific organizations and companies, as well as development of the system of professional training and continuing education with a view to upgrading the Northern Sea Route.
The strategy points to a gap between the system of professional training and higher education in the Arctic Zone and the demand for skillful resources in the economy and the social sphere in the region.