Personnel and professional trends in the agro-industrial complex labor market

The article analyzes the personnel situation in the agro-industrial complex (AIC) and food biotechnologies of Russia in the context of the implementation of the new national project «Technological support for Bioeconomics» (2026-2030). Based on data from Rosstat, employment portals and industry surveys for 2015-2026, the labor market tension index for key professional categories is calculated. It is established that the total accumulated shortage of personnel reaches 200 thousand. At the same time, the structure of the deficit is being transformed: a new cluster has been added to the traditional severely deficient working professions (vegetable growers, agronomists, tractor drivers) – biotechnological engineers (tension index 0.1), agrodron operators, specialists in genomic breeding and bioprocess scaling. Key deficit factors have been identified: the annual departure of 150,000 pensioners, the outflow of 60% of graduates of agricultural universities from the industry, the salary gap with related sectors up to 70%, regional polarization (salary gap up to 5 times). It is shown that the number of graduates (25-35 thousand per year) is comparable to the demand, but the quality of training and motivation of graduates do not meet the needs of business. Systematic measures have been formulated: raising salaries to 85-90% of the regional average, launching interdisciplinary master's degree programs, creating competence centers for agricultural enterprises, and expanding housing subsidies. The conclusion is justified that without taking these measures in the next 3-5 years, the industry will face a personnel collapse that threatens food security and the achievement of national project targets.