Only 41% of the college graduates with a degree in mechanical engineering work in their specialty, and the rest choose other fields of activity. Such conclusions are included in the analytical report on the structural shortage of manpower, inter-industry competition for manpower and flexible employment models in the context of the implementation of the development strategy of the automotive industry until 2035, prepared by the expert council of the association of private employment agencies TRUD in November 2026.

Only 41% of the college graduates with a degree in mechanical engineering work in their specialty, and the rest choose other fields of activity. Such conclusions are included in the analytical report on the structural shortage of manpower, inter-industry competition for manpower and flexible employment models in the context of the implementation of the development strategy of the automotive industry until 2035, prepared by the expert council of the association of private employment agencies TRUD in November 2026.

The shortage of labor in the real sector of the economy is not quantitative, but structural. In the years 2022-2024, colleges and technical schools graduated more than 313,000 specialists in professional groups relevant to the automotive industry, including metal workers, technicians, plant operators, and assemblers. Almost all of them find jobs successfully, but in large numbers they do not go to production lines, but to trade, logistics, and the services sector. Therefore, a significant production of specialized experts does not solve factories' labor shortage problem. As a result, over three years, the entire manufacturing sector managed to attract only 311.4 thousand graduates of all professions – both with secondary and higher education. In general, manufacturing was chosen by only 10.8% of all college and technical school graduates. At the same time, trade rescues workers at the start of their careers: during the same period, 419,000 young specialists arrived there.

Among graduates of blue-collar professions, the situation is similar: 57.3% of those who graduated from colleges specializing in land transportation do not work in the profession they received. An outflow is also observed among engineering personnel in higher education: 31% of qualified mechanical engineers - university graduates - are employed outside their specialization.

As the research showed, the competition for large factories comes from market places, logistics complexes, factories in the defense industry as well as independent service stations.