“Language Is Becoming a Tool of Production”

“Language Is Becoming a Tool for Business”: TSU Institute of Distance Education Director Mikhail Shepel Proposes Digital Russian-Language Learning Services in Migrants' Countries of Origin at SPIEF 2026.

The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum brought together more than 20,000 representatives from 130 countries in Russia's northern capital. This year's theme was “Pragmatic Dialogue: The Path to a Stable Future.” Over four days, the forum hosted more than 150 discussion sessions, a plenary session, and dozens of bilateral meetings. On the first day, a session entitled “‘Expensive’ Professionals: How to Recruit Highly Qualified Foreign Specialists Today” focused on the role of universities in a rapidly changing labor market. Representing the academic community was Mikhail Shepel, Director of the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) and Vice-Rector for Continuing Education Development at Tomsk State University.

The central topic was the shift from managing occupations to managing skills as a key way to address workforce shortages. In his presentation, Mikhail Shepel emphasized that today's labor shortage is primarily a shortage of specific competencies, which are rapidly becoming outdated due to artificial intelligence.

— The key challenge today is to build an ecosystem for continuously monitoring the skills needed in particular industries and rapidly redesigning educational programs together with corporate universities, investors, and partners. To achieve this, universities, including Tomsk State University, have developed the RosNavyk analytical platform with government support. It aggregates millions of job vacancies, breaks them down into individual skills, and makes it possible to assess the market value of specific skills across companies and regions, Vice-Rector Shepel explained.

According to the TSU representative, Russian-language proficiency has become another important priority. Russian is evolving from a purely cultural and academic subject into a practical tool essential for the seamless integration of foreign specialists into companies.

— Today, Russian-language learning technologies are becoming an instrument for promoting Russia and its cultural values. We need to develop digital Russian-language learning services in the countries from which migrants originate. We already have an example: our Na Russkom platform. It has been translated into 16 languages and allows people to study Russian at different proficiency levels while remaining in their home countries. One might argue that artificial intelligence and translation assistants already exist, but they merely provide translations. What really matters is how a person uses Russian in everyday and professional situations: how they access services such as Gosuslugi, understand which expression is appropriate, respond to particular life situations, and correctly interpret workplace instructions. Promoting Russian is a responsibility not only for universities but also for businesses. We are ready to join forces, Mikhail Shepel stated.

Mikhail Shepel also presented statistics on the university's platform for administering Russian-language examinations to foreign citizens. Nearly 114,500 people passed the Russian-language examination last year, while 129,000 have already taken it this year. Tomsk State University's testing system currently operates in 56 regions of the Russian Federation, with 85 examination sites.

The session moderator, Sergey Nuzhdin, a member of the Presidium of the Board and Chairman of the Committee for National Labor Market Development and Migration Monitoring at OPORA RUSSIA, the nationwide organization representing small and medium-sized businesses, praised the project presented by the Tomsk team. He emphasized the importance of shifting from occupations to skills to make the labor market more flexible and responsive. He also highlighted the emergence of a new institutional approach to attracting talent to Russia and wished the initiative success.

— This is a progressive approach to working with foreign citizens who wish to reside permanently in Russia. Our task is to create the right conditions for them. Under the national Personnel project and within the education system, foreign students and workers willing to undergo retraining are now recognized as a distinct priority area in the development of higher education, Sergey Nuzhdin noted.

Representatives of international business associations, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Gazprom Neft, and other organizations also shared their views on addressing the employment challenges faced by foreign citizens.

At the end of the discussion, Sergey Nuzhdin thanked the participants for the issues and priorities they had raised:

— Today, we heard different perspectives, but they all lead to the same conclusion: the Russian economy needs highly qualified specialists. This demand is expected to continue through 2032 and beyond. We must work together to develop new approaches to educational institutions and international cooperation.

TSU's participation in SPIEF confirms the university's strategic role as an active contributor to technological and workforce transformation, capable of offering businesses and government authorities practical solutions to skills shortages and the integration of international talent.

Background:

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is an annual economic and business event held in St. Petersburg. It brings together business representatives from various countries, heads of state, prominent political leaders, ministers, and regional governors. Its main mission is to serve as a practical tool for businesses, helping overcome the geographical and informational barriers separating Russia from other countries. Hundreds of agreements and investment contracts are signed at the forum each year.