The issue of staffing the Russian higher education system in modern society is becoming increasingly relevant. Against the background of reforms and a reduction in the number of universities and their branches, there are trends in reducing the number of personnel in higher education organizations. In the conditions of the formation of an innovative economy, the need for highly qualified personnel with an innovative orientation increases many times. The work of postgraduate studies should be aimed at training such personnel, but, unfortunately, in the modern system of higher education there is no well-established system of motivation for mastering this stage of education, which in the future will negatively affect not only the innovative development of the country, but also the functioning of higher education organizations in general. In the course of the study, it was found that the total number of personnel in higher education organizations decreased in dynamics by 20.7%. Mainly, high reductions occurred in the category of teaching staff. Teachers and researchers who have dropped out of the system now for various reasons are unlikely to return to the education system in the long-term future, having mastered new niches for earning money. There are certainly many reasons for staff attrition, but among them there are aging personnel and low motivation of young people to work at a university after completing postgraduate studies. Graduate school, in turn, due to the formalization of the learning process, loses its social function as a forge of personnel for higher education.