Labour and employment in a digital transformation: priorities for Ukraine in the context of global trends and formation of Industry 4.0

Abstract

Digitalization of the economy and society is now on the agenda of international communities and organizations, national governments, global corporations. This process also defines the mainstream of modern economic researches. Particular attention is paid to the problems, connected with significant changes in the field of labour and employment as a result of the impact of global trends in this area, to their consequences for national economies, including Ukrainian economy. The main objective of this paper is to locate Ukraine in the system of key factors, influencing the development of labour and employment in the digital transformation and transition to Industry 4.0, as well as to substantiate the relevant priorities of state policy for development in Ukraine. Some main global trends that form key issues in the field of labour and employment in the context of digital transformation are revealed. It was found that more significant changes are not so much the ones, that advert employment itself (automation and further jump of an unemployment rate), as the movement of labour force between sectors of the economy and the transformation of labour specifics, even in traditional professions. All the abovementioned directly and strongly affects the dynamics of demand for skills. In this context, position of Ukraine is rather complicated, regarding that the country is involved into the processes of international production and exchange asymmetrically. This fact determines the peripheral status of the national economy. The assessment of the readiness and capacity of the country and the Ukrainian system of labour and employment to meet challenges of the digital development was carried out on the basis of defining Ukraine's position in the leading international rankings for measuring the preconditions of global digital competitiveness. This allowed to determine the existing and potential compliance of national human and labour potential with changes and trends in the field of labour and employment in the context of the Industry 4.0 formation. The analysis allowed to substantiate the main priorities of state policy in the field of labour and employment of digital transformation, with the main focus on the development and implementation of a system of measures, aimed at preventing risks and opportunities’ use in the field of labour and employment in the context of digital transformation in Ukraine.