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Competitions are held under the umbrella of the WorldSkills Juniors movement. Its main idea is to provide young people with the opportunity to decide on a future profession that will be of real interest to them.

This year, the event set another new record: 73 competencies of WorldSkills Russia and 50 competencies of WorldSkills Russia Juniors were organised.

Two age categories are used in the competitions. The first is students of professional educational institutions from 16 to 22 years old. The second covers schoolchildren and pupils of institutions of continuing education in St. Petersburg: 10–14 and 14–16 year-olds. In addition, around 45,000 children will visit the exhibition complex, take part in master classes and become acquainted with the specialties of secondary professional education.

With each passing year, the prestige of the professional skills competition grows and attracts more like-minded people from different regions of Russia and from other countries. This year, competitors and experts from 21 regions of the Russian Federation and guests from Finland and Portugal came to the Northern Capital.

The Young Professionals open regional championship of professional skills (WorldSkills Russia) plays an important role in improving qualifications and further improving competencies. In the 2019 Championship, there was a total of 1,066 participating students and school children and 1,126 experts.

At the opening ceremony, young specialists were greeted by Oleg Markov, vice-governor of St. Petersburg. He said that WorldSkills Russia is an important educational competition, and noted that every year interest in attending colleges and vocational schools increases. It goes without saying that the Government of St. Petersburg supports this trend. In 2019, more than a billion rubles were allocated from the city budget to create modern learning conditions; more than in the past few years. “We hope that this is evidence of the quality of education in our city. Last week, the national championship ended, and afterwards we decided to reward prize winners. Moreover, we decided to reward the juniors participating in WorldSkills Kazan 2019. Around 12 million rubles were allocated for these purposes,” the vice-governor specified. “It's good to hear that in 2022 the EuroSkills Championship will be held in St. Petersburg. Of course, we well be ready for this important event. And we hope that it will go ahead as smoothly as possible,” Markov said.

Anatoly Turchak, president of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of St. Petersburg, supported the aspirations of young professionals in his speech. “I am pleased that St. Petersburg is hosting such a global event dedicated to the professional development of a new generation. Once, when I was 14, I came to Leninets as a mechanic’s apprentice, and I have been working at the enterprise for 59 years, and for 35 years I have been at the head of this company which is one of the most prominent organisations in St. Petersburg. I would like you to go down the same route, but to do this you need to work hard, no one can do it for you. I am certain that the championship will push you toward the right choice for your future profession, and that you will build your course toward the future,” said the head of the enterprise.

As part of the grand opening, awards of the President of the Russian Federation were presented. The ceremony was lead by Oleg Markov, vice-governor of St. Petersburg. An honorary diploma was awarded to Andrey Pivinsky, CEO of WorldSkills Services, for preparing the Russian national team in professional excellence for the EuroSkills 2018 championship in Budapest. Anna Melets, bronze medalist of EuroSkills 2018 for her competency in “restaurant service” received the gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation for her award and her active participation in the European Championship in professional excellence.

The opening of Young Professionals was also attended by Zhanna Vorobyeva, Chairman of the Education Committee of St. Petersburg, and Sergey Voronkov, General Director of ExpoForum International.

Young contestants became part of a large-scale city of professions, where there is a colossal list of completely diverse industries. For example, 7 teams are participating in the Landscape Design competency, one of which represents Finland. “Work on rotating universal machines” was presented for the first time in St. Petersburg. There are 8 educational organisations competing in it. The level of completion of the assignment is assessed by 10 experts.

For many years now, future teachers have competed in the fields of physical education, sports and fitness. Their competence in these areas enables an evaluation of how well these young people are prepared for their work.

At the Designing Interfaces contest, participants designed neural interfaces that allow you to control a computer without use of your hands. In the near future, these developments will begin to be used in prosthetics. A person will control a biomechanical prosthesis using their cerebral cortex.

In addition to the large-scale competitive and expositional aspect of the event, a fascinating business program, master classes and even a fashion show were prepared for the young professionals. The event took place in Pavilions F and G until 6 November.

The organisers of WorldSkills Russia are: The Education Committee of St. Petersburg, the Palace of Students of St. Petersburg, the WorldSkills Russia Regional Coordination Center and the Academy of Digital Technologies of St. Petersburg.