Tatarstan defense enterprises announce ‘hunt’ for specialists

KVZ: bonus to the returnees and “Bring a friend” promotion

Kazan Helicopters (KVZ), belonging to the Russian Helicopters Holding (part of Rostec State Corporation), is famous for its Ansats, Mi-8/17 and Mi-38 and supplies them to Russia and 92 countries around the world.

Today, KVZ is actively increasing its production capacity, so the company needs specialists in a variety of areas. Since the beginning of the year, more than 400 employees have already joined the staff of the plant, but this is not enough. About 150 highly qualified workers of the following professions are awaited there:

• turner,
• miller,
• painter,
• mechanic of mechanical assembly production,
• operator of software-controlled machines,
• electric and gas welder,
• tinsmith.

“Workers can earn about 100 thousand rubles. Today's salary at the KVZ is 82 thousand rubles, and the calculations are made without taking into account the income of the company's management staff — we have increased salaries since January 2022, the increase was from 20% to 30%. Also, those who previously quit and return to the plant are paid a one-time cash bonus of 50 thousand rubles," the deputy director general — head of the KVZ staff, Adel Shagimardanov, told Realnoe Vremya.

The company has a collective agreement, which includes a large list of various benefits and social guarantees: VMI, vouchers to sanatoriums and health camps for employees and their children, advanced training, compensation for the cost of subscriptions to fitness clubs in Kazan.

“Our helicopter builders live an active social and sports life. The company has a trade union, a factory youth union, and a veterans' council. In addition to the main work, we also have a busy leisure life — all kinds of corporate events, competitions, contests are held. KVZ employees constantly participate in various city, republican and industry events," the press service of the enterprise shared.

By the way, since August 1, the employees of KVZ have been offered to become participants in the original HR campaign “Bring a friend”. Each employee of the enterprise can recommend their candidate for open vacancies to the personnel service, and if he gets a job and works for 3 months, then a bonus of 10 thousand rubles is paid as a reward for a new employee.

Gunpowder factory: a draft deferral and a salary up to 80k rubles

The Kazan Gunpowder Factory (KGKPZ) is a multidisciplinary enterprise that produces various types of gunpowder and charges for almost all types of weapons. Today, the plant's staff numbers almost 2,2 thousand people, of which a third are young people, although 5 years ago this figure was much lower, the head of the personnel policy department of the plant, Tatiana Mikhaylova, emphasises. She said that the plant is in dire need of technical specialists. Following professions are in demand: apparatchiks, rollers, drivers of loaders and trucks, sharpeners, painters, laboratory assistants of physico-chemical analysis, material inspectors, leakproofness testers, carvers, assemblers, fitters. In August, the plant has already been replenished with new employees, Mikhaylova said:

"270 vacancies were planned for August, and now 170 people are already being registred. Plus, 71 people have already been hired — they have started working. Approximately 60 vacant places remain vacant, for which we are waiting for applicants in September. We need apparatchiks, assemblers of custom products. We also hire people without experience — their training takes place in our training centre, and after certification, beginners get access to independent work.”

Mechanics and electricians are in particular short supply. As the head of the personnel service of the gunpowder factory noted, today there are few vocational schools that teach these specialties, so such graduates of colleges are in high demand by Kazan enterprises.

Applicants are promised a salary from 45 to 80 thousand rubles and higher — depending on the level of qualification, a draft deferral for the period of work at the factory, and a large social package.

Among the various benefits — long service bonuses, and starting from the first year of work — compensation for food expenses, for nonresidents — a salary supplement for rental housing. Other benefits and guarantees are also provided. Moreover, they are ready to accept not only residents of Kazan, but also other districts of Tatarstan for vacant places — a shift method of work is valid for them. Here are just some support measures:

• employed in the specialty after graduation, a monthly payment of 4,5 thousand rubles is established for three years;
• employees dismissed after military service in the reserve from the ranks of the Armed Forces and accepted to the factory receive financial assistance in the amount of five minimum wages in the Russian Federation (for those who returned to their previous place of work for the first time after dismissal);
• employees with a nonresident residence permit receive a surcharge of 4 thousand rubles for renting housing or are provided with a bed in a dormitory;
• upon concluding a marriage, an additional paid day of rest is provided, and young workers under 35 years of age receive financial assistance in the amount of 3 thousand rubles, and if both newlyweds are employees of the enterprise — 7 thousand rubles.
• payment of financial assistance for calendar holidays;
• many other social benefits and guarantees.

In addition, graduates of technical schools, after they receive the status of a young specialist, an additional allowance of 4,5 thousand rubles is paid together with a monthly salary for several years.

As they say at the factory, one of the most difficult professions is an assembler of custom products. Manual labour is required here, so the work, taking into account the specifics of production, is quite stressful, so not everyone can withstand such a rhythm, move to another place, even despite a high level of wages. Therefore, there are always vacancies at these production sites. More detailed information can be found in the personnel department of the plant.

Tochmash in Kazan: salary has increased by almost half

Another company, the Kazan Precision Engineering Plant, needs more than 100 new employees as part of the implementation of the technical re-equipment programьу. According to Gulchachak Rakhmatullina, the deputy director general for economics and personnel management, most of all the company needs repairmen, machine operators, supervisors, punch operators, setup personnel, and installers. The latter specialty is intended specifically for women, since it implies soldering various parts and requires scrupulousness, concentration, perseverance and painstaking work, but the work is not so laborious.

“The salary starts from 45 thousand rubles, and adjusters can receive more than 120 thousand rubles a month. Since September 1, we have increased it by almost 50%. Although we do not have monthly bonuses, only the so-called 13th salary at the end of the year, but every month employees receive a special allowance of 40% of the salary, plus 20% in case of overachievement of target," Gulchachak Rakhmatullina said.

The employees are provided with a full social package and various social guarantees, both standard and additional, prescribed in the collective agreement. The company welcomes not only residents of Kazan, but also nonresident applicants: “They will have the opportunity to stay in a hostel for six months until they get on their feet," the head of the HR service clarified, “which we pay for at the expense of the enterprise budget”.

“We also employ fresh graduates of institutes or technical schools. We train them, they improve their professional level and then become highly qualified specialists.

Declining birth rates, low salaries, and “unfashionable” professions

It has been discussed at various levels for more than one year that the industrial sector, including the defense industry, will soon face a personnel shortage. In the autumn of 2021, a working group was created in Tatarstan to provide industry and trade enterprises with qualified personnel, but the problem is still relevant. Among the reasons for the shortage of specialists in working specialties, experts call a decline in the birth rate in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the reluctance of young people to go to work at a plant.

Today, there is a shortage of personnel at many enterprises of the republic — turners, millers, electric and gas welders and others. Usually young people choose completely different specialties, for example, they want to become programmers or bloggers. Although there has been a certain positive trend in the last decade — the popularity of secondary vocational education is growing in Russia, and more and more schoolchildren prefer to go to professional technical schools and colleges instead of continuing their studies until the 11th grade and then enroll in a university.