The demographic crisis in the agricultural sector and the aging of the agricultural workforce have become global challenges that require a radical rethink of approaches to attracting young professionals. Only 11% of all agricultural enterprises in the European Union are run by farmers under the age of 40, which indicates the critical need to develop comprehensive strategies for integrating youth (Generation Z) into the agro-industrial complex. The research is based on the analysis of transformational processes in the perception of agricultural professions and the identification of key factors determining the career preferences of modern youth. The methodological approach includes the use of mixed research methods using structural modeling, big data analysis and qualitative content analysis. The empirical base was formed on the basis of a representative sample of 2,847 respondents aged 18-25 years and 156 representatives of agricultural companies. The results demonstrate the critical importance of the digital transformation of the agricultural sector to enhance its attractiveness.: 73% of Generation Z representatives are ready to consider a career in agriculture, subject to the introduction of modern technologies. A direct correlation was found between the perception of the industry’s technological effectiveness and the intentions of young people to choose a particular professional activity in the agricultural sector (r = 0.68, p<0.001). The agricultural rebranding, based on the positioning of agriculture as a high-tech ecosystem, increases the attractiveness of the industry by 47%. The research reveals the potential for creating new professional trajectories within the framework of the Agriculture 4.0 concept, including the roles of agroanalysts, unmanned systems specialists, agrobotany experts, and sustainable development managers. The practical significance of the work lies in the development of a scientifically based model for attracting young professionals through the synthesis of traditional agricultural competencies with advanced digital technologies, which opens up prospects for the sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex.
Marina V. Polevаya (Wed,) studied this question.