Staff composition of civil service institutions in the Olonets province during the first half of the XIX century

The research deals with the problems of staffing local civil service institutions in the Olonets province during the first half of XIX century. Using the systematic civil servants’ records (staff lists), the author for the first time analyzed the staff structure by social class, age and education level. The resulting characteristics illustrated the civil service personnel problems which the province faced during this period and the results of the measures taken by the authorities in order to solve them. The obtained statistical data reflected the specific characteristics of the government policy aimed at forming the social base of Olonets bureaucracy. It was established that during the studied period local institutions were not sufficiently staffed, and about half of the Olonets province local government apparatus were non-residents, who came from other places. A practice of hiring people from other regions, service benefits, filling civil service positions with those who paid the capitation tax - all these factors influenced the structure of bureaucracy. The analysis of the social class origin of the local officials revealed a high proportion of nobility, hereditary civil servants, and people who paid the capitation tax. Data on the age composition of the civil service workforce during the first quarter of the XIX century shows the understaffing of local establishments and slow enrollment of young employees, while the similar data for the second half of the same century, on the contrary, demonstrated the inflow of employees from other provinces and gradual rejuvenation of workforce in the middle of the century, which resulted in the “generation change”. Data on education indicate the overall low level of professional training and qualification. Although the government measures encouraged potential civil servants to obtain certificates issued by educational institutions, most of them had very basic education or were homeschooled.