Workers for Digital Economy
The impact of digitalisation of the economy on the national labour market commanded increased attention in recent years. Development of information and communication technologies (ICT) leads to the emergence of new professions and promotes employment in the ICT sector. Experts at the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) have calculated, on the basis of the Rosstat survey, how many people work in ICT-related professions.
1,050.3 thousand people (or 1,5% of the total workforce) were employed in ICT-related professions1 in 2016. Out of them, 829,4 thousand had top-level qualifications (9 primary groups)2, and 220,9 thousand – secondary-level ones (6 groups)3. More than half of all ICT workers were software developers (44%) and system administrators (11%).
Almost a third (27%) of workers employed in ICT-related professions are concentrated in divisions whose activities involve the use of computers and information technologies. The second largest group are employed by manufacturing companies (12%), and the third largest — by transport and communication firms (10%).
Most of the ICT specialists are men (81%). Highest shares of workers with top- and secondary-level qualifications alike were noted in the under 29 age group (41–42%). In the secondary-level qualifications group the share of older workers is higher.
An absolute majority of workers with top-level qualifications have higher education (89%); 9% of them have secondary or primary vocational education. Unsurprisingly, most of workers with secondary-level qualifications (72%) have secondary or primary vocational education; 21% of them have higher education.
To assess how people’s jobs match their formal qualifications, the experts drafted a list of ICT-related professions. The share of people formally trained in relevant ICT-related professions in the total number of workers with top-level qualifications reached 73%; for workers with secondary-level qualifications, it was 22 percentage points lower.
Professional upgrading and retraining of workers are of particular interest. Workers with top-level qualifications trained more often than those with secondary-level ones, in all areas (except 'Other additional vocational training'). Most frequently workers in both groups took health and safety courses (about 13%), though such training doesn’t help to acquire specific professional competencies.
ICT-related professions mean primary occupation groups in the All-Russian Classification of Occupations (OKZ 010-2014).
For analysis purposes, primary groups 'Web and multimedia application developers' and 'Application programmers' were merged due to the small size of the first one.
For analysis purposes, primary groups 'ICT maintenance technicians' and 'User support technicians' were merged due to the small size of the second one.
Sources: calculations are based on the Rosstat workforce survey (2016) and the results of the project 'Studying activities of innovation process participants: developing theoretical framework and methodological approaches' implemented in the scope of the HSE Basic Research Programme.
Methodological note: The Rosstat workforce survey is the main source of data about the Russian labour market. Its strengths include a large sample (more than 800 thousand people until 2017, and about 1 million subsequently); coverage of both formal and informal sectors of the economy, all economic activity types, and all professional groups. The survey data also allows analysing socio-demographic characteristics.
The information was presented by Anna Demianova, Zinaida Ryzhikova
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