EDUCATIONAL SERVICES MARKET RESEARCH

Abstract

The problem of the connection between the amount of training of specialists and their employment in the field of economic activity at the current stage of economic development is becoming quite necessary for research. The education system must adjust its activities according to the needs of the labor market, and it, in turn, must provide information for education in a timely manner. This connection is fundamental and will help to ensure the perfect functioning of the markets under study. However, unfortunately, today the connection between the labor market and the market of educational services functions only conditionally. The main subjects of the educational services market are: applicants, parents, schools, employers, recruitment agencies, state institutions, other universities. Each of these subjects realizes certain economic interests. And only thanks to the functioning of the "win-win" system, maintaining the balance becomes possible. The researched interrelationships between the main subjects of the market of educational services indicate the imperfect functioning of the system today. By comparing the number of submitted applications for bachelor's degrees by field with the volume of their government orders, it became clear about the existing imbalance in the market. State-priority technical specialties are in minimal demand among applicants, who, instead, choose "fashionable" specialties. In turn, the university focuses on the demand of applicants, and this leads to an increase in the level of unemployment and oversaturation of the labor market with specialists in social sciences and the service sector. Another problem in maintaining the balance between education and the labor market is the passivity of employers. They do not provide timely information about existing problems and are not involved in forecasting the necessary specialists on the labor market. If, for example, the employer would involve students in solving existing problems, then everyone would be equally "winners". After all, students would have the opportunity to solve practical problems, and the company would receive new innovative solutions from students. By correcting this shortcoming, the functioning of the educational services market would improve significantly.