Shortage of skilled workforce in manufacturing: A consequence of firms ineffectiveness or an obstacle for the growth of effective firms?

The paper analyzes which manufacturing firms in Russia face shortage of skilled workforce more often — effective growing firms or non-competitive enterprises. The regression analysis of the survey data of 1860 Russian manufacturing firms conducted in 2022 showed that growing and effective firms, as well as firms integrated into the global economy, face skilled labour shortage more often. At the same time, firms with higher technological level of production are more effective in solving skilled workforce shortage problems. The shortage of qualified personnel seems to be not a subjective but a real problem of Russian manufacturing firms and an obstacle to the growth and development of competitive enterprises. Additionally, the results are illustrated with materials from 12 expert interviews with enterprise managers. A potential key to addressing the workforce shortage could be an intensive growth model for enterprises based on innovations and a high level of technological organization in production and labour, with the development of production automation that reduces the need for human resources.