KALININGRAD, January 25. /TASS/. High-skilled blue-collar workers are needed at the country’s factories, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Highly-skilled tradespeople play a critical role at worksites, especially these days," the head of state said at a meeting with students.

Not so long ago it was hard to imagine that workers could operate sophisticated machinery or do something in the chemical industry, biology or pharmaceuticals, the President noted. "Now it’s becoming the norm because factories do not require that an individual has a higher education ‘wallpaper degree’ or not," he added.