Russia: From Manpower to Talent Power – Report on Human Capital Transformation and Knowledge Economy Competitiveness

Key Chapter Title List

1. 2025 Competency Model – The Key to Global Competitiveness
2. The World Today: Two Development Trajectories
3. 2025 Labor Market: The Knowledge Economy
4. Russia's Current State: Low Unemployment, Not Competitiveness
5. Russia's 2025 Competitiveness: Development Scenarios
6. 8 Steps from Human Resources to Talent
7. Research Methodology
8. Employer/Labor Market Segmentation Approach
9. Employer Segmentation Profiles within the Research Framework

Document Introduction

Against the backdrop of global technological, demographic, and geopolitical trends reshaping the economic landscape, the knowledge economy has become the core pillar of national competitiveness. Although Russia promotes economic diversification and innovation transformation at the national level, it lacks a systematic plan for human capital development, making related goals difficult to implement. This report, as the starting point for a large-scale study on human capital development in Russia, focuses on the transformation of the labor market by 2025, with a core discussion on how to propel Russia into the forefront of the knowledge economy through human capital upgrading.

The report builds its analytical foundation through rigorous research design: conducting over 90 in-depth interviews with senior executives of large Russian organizations spanning 22 industries and providing over 3.5 million jobs, alongside an online survey targeting employers across Russia, comprehensively collecting key information on 2025 development priorities, talent needs, and transformation obstacles. The research is supported by institutions such as Sberbank and WorldSkills Russia, ensuring data authority and representativeness.

The report first defines the core competency model for the knowledge economy era, identifying general competencies such as critical thinking, teamwork, adaptability, and digital skills as essential workplace literacies for 2025. By comparing the development trajectories of globally leading countries with Russia, it reveals the structural imbalance in Russia's labor market—only 17% of jobs belong to the high-skilled "knowledge-based" category, far below the minimum level of 25% in leading countries.

In-depth analysis indicates that Russia's human capital development faces three core bottlenecks: insufficient demand for high-skilled talent in the labor market, with the economy relying on resource exports rather than intellectual capital; the education system failing to meet the needs of the knowledge economy, characterized by lagging teacher training, disconnected vocational education, and a lack of lifelong learning mechanisms; and a socio-cultural preference for stability over development, coupled with inadequate professional incentive mechanisms.

The report proposes two development scenarios for 2025: a catch-up transformation scenario and an advanced modernization scenario, and outlines eight key action steps covering three dimensions: stimulating demand for high-skilled talent, optimizing the supply of the education system, and fostering a talent development environment. The research concludes that only through systemic reform, shifting the labor market structure towards "knowledge-based" jobs, can Russia achieve a qualitative economic leap by 2025 and enter the ranks of globally leading knowledge economy nations.