The Russian electronics industry has faced a paradox: rising salaries do not help retain engineers. According to a SuperJob study, engineers' incomes in the industry grew by almost 13% in 2025. However, the personnel shortage is only worsening — according to the Basic Personnel Training Center, the personnel deficit of microelectronics enterprises exceeded 7 thousand people, and the projected need for 2025–2027 is more than 20 thousand specialists.
Salary increases only redistribute the same limited human resources among companies, experts explained at the conference of the Association of Russian Developers and Manufacturers of Electronics (ARPE). An engineer is lured away by a higher rate, but the same specialist leaves with the same ease as soon as a competitor offers more.
The problem is systemic. According to a survey conducted by the Council for Professional Qualifications last year, 45% of employers in microelectronics cannot find the right specialists on the market, 21% believe that universities and colleges do not train such personnel, and 15% point to low salaries as the cause of the shortage.
According to forecasts by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, by 2030, the electronics industry will need another 60 thousand specialists, most of whom will be engineers and programmers. However, under current conditions, a simple salary increase will not solve this problem — systemic work on personnel training and retention is necessary.
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