“To whom and for what?”: IT companies praise the Ministry of Digital Development’s initiative on mandatory payments to specialized universities

Mandatory 5% tax deductions, the introduction of which is being considered by the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation, will affect market players with a turnover of 2 billion rubles or more, RB.RU reports. Petr Vasilenko, CEO of Russian IT company GrafTech.

“There is still no exact list of organizations that will be required by law to invest in education. The ministry is likely to focus on the classic gradation, according to which companies with an annual turnover of more than 2 billion rubles are classified as large companies,” said Pyotr Vasilenko.

• The Ministry of Digital Development plans to introduce mandatory contributions by the end of 2024; without them, it will be impossible to extend accreditation from 2025, which means receiving tax benefits. The final parameters will be known in September-October, added the head of the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation Maksut Shadayev at the Yandex Education press breakfast on August 27. This was reported by Interfax and Kommersant. The amount of deductions will be 5% of tax deductions received through industrial profits. According to Shadayev, “hundreds” of companies will fall within the parameters. The minister added that to improve the quality of education in IT universities, it is necessary to allocate not only money, but also personnel.

According to Vasilenko, staff shortages are particularly acute in small businesses.

“We compete for “older people” with large IT companies that offer better salaries and working conditions. Small and medium-sized companies tend to reinvest their resources in the development of IT products, which makes it more difficult for them to change the situation by training young specialists on a large scale and in a comprehensive manner,” the expert said.

Vasilenko added that the increase in the number of computer science universities has solved the problem of the shortage of young people, but they only make up 20% of vacancies. The most highly qualified specialists, “intermediate” and “senior”, are still in short supply.

“Modernizing educational programs and adapting them more precisely to the current challenges of the IT market will allow us to quickly train the necessary specialists,” the expert said.

President of the Russoft Association Valentin Makarov He described the involvement of IT companies in training new personnel for the industry as a correct decision, but one that requires “an expansion of the recognised forms of cooperation between companies and educational institutions.”

Makarov believes that the announced method of deducting 5% of the amount of tax deductions from the profits of the industry “is not the most effective and obvious way to achieve the goal of training IT personnel.” The expert noted that it is not only the transfer of money to universities that is important, but also the real interaction between companies and educational institutions.

“It is especially important that the introduction of a new measure does not violate existing successful forms of cooperation aimed specifically at the development of education, and not only at material support for universities,” Makarov said on his Telegram channel.

Makarov recalled that APKIT had previously proposed taking into account various forms of participation of IT companies in the educational process, forming a summary indicator, which can be taken into account as a criterion for compliance or non-compliance of the company’s contribution to the educational process with state requirements. However, this initiative has not yet been properly heard or reflected in proposals for the implementation of this support measure.

“We expect further dialogue between the Ministry, Russoft and other industry associations to develop this proposal in order to maintain balance and not create a threat to the development of the IT industry, which was achieved through joint efforts,” Makarov said.

General Director of SKB Kontur Mikhail Srodnykh believes that training IT specialists is a long-term investment, the successful implementation of which requires comprehensive and systematic work.

“In this regard, the proposals of the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia are strategic and deserve the support of the industry. The only question is in the details: it is important that the future law matches the actions that companies are already taking in this area, provides effective mechanisms for investing the funds received from companies to expand the funnel for hiring workers, and also takes into account the experience gained in the IT industry in training,” the expert told RB.RU.

Srodnykh says that Kontur has been investing in IT education for more than 10 years: the company strives to create a “school-university-company” trajectory, when the training of future specialists begins at school, which minimizes the consequences of the demographic situation in the country and increases the human resource potential of the IT sector.

Oleg Ivchenkov, CEO of SETERE Group He believes that the need for IT companies to contribute to the training of future personnel is undeniable, but the format of this “contribution” still raises questions, because the format of distribution “to whom” and “for what purpose” has not been announced.

A large number of companies are already systematically investing in the development of education and are constantly working with universities and colleges: they create and support core departments, participate in teaching work, attract students to internships, develop and implement virtual educational stations and laboratories in the educational process, donate software for educational purposes, Elena Bocherova, director of the Cyberprotect company, told RB.RU.

“It is important that the introduction of a new measure does not violate existing successful forms of cooperation aimed specifically at the development of education, and not just at material support,” the expert believes.

Bocherova called for working on a new initiative in dialogue with the industry.

“The issue is delicate and it is necessary to come to a common denominator on the parameters of this innovation before changing the legislation. First of all, on the items of expenditure that will be taken into account. IT companies understand that the industry has been given unprecedented preferences and that the state expects a “return” on this support not only in the form of accelerated growth of companies and the market as a whole, which, of course, is important in the first case, but also so that the industry can become a driving force for other sectors of the economy and for the development of personnel. However, in any proposal from the regulator it is necessary to maintain balance,” the expert said.