Abstract:

The efficiency of the Russian labor market is closely related to the nature and conditions of interaction of its main participants – employers, the state, the training system and the workers themselves, since it is the basis to form and develop the competencies, which are necessary for an innovative economy. However, despite the changes in higher education, the labor market and business representatives are still not satisfied with the quality of training the specialists. As a result, many graduates of Russian universities (about 40%) are forced to work not in their specialty. The absence of universal methods to level employers’ dissatisfaction with the quality of graduate education creates an imbalance between supply and demand for young professionals, and has a negative impact on wage differentiation. In this regard, studies aimed at identifying the problems in the field of training specialists in higher education institutions, improving the quality of education, and taking into account the wishes of employers, are topical.

The aim of the study is to identify the opinions and wishes of employers on the quality of university training, as well as the rationale for improving the training of young professionals and strengthening partnerships between higher education institutions and enterprise management.

During the research, methods such as questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, graphical interpretation of data, analysis and synthesis were used. The study involved the representatives of the top management of 100 Russian small and medium-sized companies, including 58% of women and 42% of men.

In the course of the study, the following objectives were accomplished: the main causes of employers’ dissatisfaction with the training of university graduates were established, key factors influencing the quality of education, the ways of improving the system of higher education and strengthening partnerships of higher education and business are grounded. The results of the research showed that the lack of practical training, as well as the lack or ineffectiveness of providing institutional forms (internships, practices, integration of educational programs with the activities of enterprises, and others) are of the great importance for employers. Along with this, it was found that such a situation is caused not only by universities with their insufficient attention to this problem, but also by the disinterest of employers in mutual partnership. The issues related to the strengthening and harmonization of employers’ relationships with higher education institutions continue to remain unresolved and require further research.

Keywords:

Graduates, young professionals, employers, the labor market, employment, quality of education, questionnaires, interviews, interaction of employers/universities.