In the spring, delivery drivers earned significantly more on average nationwide than technicians with degrees.
Photo: Alexey BULATOV. Go to Photobank KP
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev spoke out in defence of production engineers. The salary of an engineer cannot be lower than that of a courier, he said. Then he said: “This is an obvious distortion in the market, and this should not happen.” This happened on Wednesday during a meeting on improving labour legislation. Moreover, according to the ex-president, it is not only couriers and taxi drivers who take away staff from real production, but also the IT sector.
“Despite the importance of the digital sphere, real production has not disappeared from life,” Medvedev stressed. “And if we have a large-scale flow of people from the real sector into this sector, then one day this could create real problems for us.” Which, by the way, we are now forced to solve during a special military operation: when we do not have enough workers and we cannot send couriers from the street or those who are engaged in private deliveries to factories.”
To be fair, it should be said that at the end of June the average salary of engineers was still higher than that of couriers – this data is provided by the GorodRabot.Ru portal. But in the spring, delivery drivers earned significantly more on average across the country than technicians with diplomas.
ENGINEERS HAVE BEEN UNDERPAID BEFORE
This situation did not arise yesterday. In the times of the USSR, engineers often received less than workers, and since then we have heard that this is an excess and a paradox. The state invests a huge amount of work in training a technical specialist: 5-6 years of study and paid teachers. And in the end – 120 rubles a month. Yes, in production it cost up to 200 rubles, but the workers got even more.
This was explained quite clearly.
– You studied for 5 years to sit in a clean office, not in a workshop, to calmly draw on a drawing table and not to turn nuts on a conveyor belt, if you lift something, it weighs no more than a pencil, and not to move pieces of iron, so everything is fair, – said the worker to the engineer.
The State also supported this line.
– Whose state do we have? Workers and peasants. And not engineers; it was a party worker from the factory who taught me about life.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev spoke out in defence of the production engineers.
Photo: REUTERS.
How to increase your salary
But times have changed and the wage ratio is not very good. So why does the engineer still receive a modest ration?
“You can argue as much as you like that an engineer should get more, but if the organization does not have the opportunity to pay him a high salary, then it will not pay him a high salary,” Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University of the Government of the Russian Federation, said philosophically on Radio KP. – Even though a neighboring organization can pay higher salaries to couriers and other unskilled workers. The labor market is like that.
However, the expert admitted that this was unfair and a waste of money on the part of the state. Moreover, according to Safonov, the fact that a certified specialist receives less or about the same as a courier is typical only for our country.
“In the United States, an engineer receives between $127,000 and $167,000 a year; a messenger cannot receive that amount of money under any circumstances, at best $40,000,” he gave as an example.
The State itself could correct the situation.
“There is nothing simpler,” said Safonov. – Let’s set the salary level of engineers in budgetary companies higher than that of couriers. Commercial companies will also be forced to raise salaries to retain specialists. But is it necessary to do this? Additional government funds will be needed to make payments to budget-funded companies. And the commercial sector, in order to find money to increase the salaries of its engineers, will raise the prices of its goods and services. Delivery services will do the same to retain couriers with diplomas, and in the end this will affect us, the consumers.
“THEY KNOW LITTLE, THEY DON’T WANT TO GO INTO PRODUCTION”
Another reason for the relatively low salaries of engineers is their low qualifications. They are unable to fulfil their main task: introducing an intellectual component into production.
“We work with colleges and universities and see that the curriculum has been reduced, core subjects have been removed, so graduates, even if they want to work, are not ready, they need to undergo additional training during the first year,” the general director of the Vostryakovo-2 meat processing plant told KP.RU. – Another problem is that the guys do not consciously choose their profession; they do not want to work at the plant or in the food industry in general. Why did they apply? They answer: “Not far from home”, “To get a diploma and then we’ll see”, “My parents forced me to do it.” They do not come to practice: those who do not need money simply skip it, and those who do get work as couriers. They are attracted by the regime: when they needed money, they went to work. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to go out. But we have production, schedule, “whether you like it or not” – there is no such thing. Here we have a vacancy for a mechanical engineer for 120 thousand a month, we cannot find it.
The average salary of engineers in the country is now higher than both the national average and the courier’s. Interestingly, engineers’ salaries grew throughout the year, while couriers’ salaries, which peaked in the spring, fell in the summer. And they fell, according to the GorodRabot.Ru portal, to a level below the average for all professions.
However, in some companies engineers had never felt offended before.
“According to our tariff schedule, a specialist always receives more than a worker,” said Tatyana Larina. – After university, the salary is 80-90 thousand rubles, in a year it reaches 120 thousand, after two – 150-180 thousand per month. A worker on a two-by-two schedule with an 11-hour shift earns 80-90 thousand per month. You can increase your salary by working overtime, for example, in the “three in one” mode. Then it could be 150 thousand. But it is very difficult to physically endure a month.
How much do engineers and couriers earn in 2024? Thousands of rubles.
Indicator January/June / Growth, %
In Russia
The average salary of an engineer in Russia is 78.9 / 84.7 / 7.4
The average salary of a courier in Russia is 72.1 / 80.5 / 11.7
Average salary in Russia 69.7 / 81.2 / 16.5
In Moscow
Average salary of an engineer in Moscow 103.6 / 112.2 / 8.3
Average salary for courier in Moscow 80 / 80.6 / 0.8
Average salary in Moscow 79.6 / 84 / 5.5
Note: the highest salaries for couriers in Moscow occurred in April (95.5 thousand rubles), and in Russia – in March (91.4 thousand rubles).
Source: portal gorodrabot.ru
