Russian Labor Research Articles

Research of Practices of Formation and Development of Human Capital in Companies of Various Industries on the Russian Market

Almost all global trends create a synergistic effect, which increases the importance of forming and developing human capital to ensure the survival of companies in the market and their confidence in the future, regardless of their size and type of activity. However, despite the unflagging and continued interest of the scientific community in the issues related to human capital, there are still many “white spots” in this area. The aim of this work is to explore the approaches to forming and developing human capital applied by companies doing business in Russia in the current realities and modern conditions, to identify industry specifics and to outline recommendations. To achieve this goal, the authors conducted a questionnaire survey of managers of enterprises from different segments of the economy. As a result of the analysis of the obtained data, the conclusions were made that not all organisations have a generally accepted definition of HR and not everywhere there are procedures for its assessment. The problems related to personnel development, creation of competitive labour conditions for employees, search for potential employees and internal filling of vacancies were also revealed. The methodology of this work is based on a systemic approach and surveying, as well as general scientific methods such as synthesis, analysis, comparison, and generalization. Research results: Despite the fact that, in the opinion of the authors of the study, it did not consider all the problems of human capital formation and its impact on the sustainability of organisations, the obtained results allowed for the identification of the peculiarities of approaches to forming and developing human capital, considering industry specifics, and can be useful to develop practical recommendations for managers of companies aimed at improving this activity. Originality: This study presents, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of the approaches to forming and developing human capital in companies across various industries in the Russian labor market.

State policy of Russia to promote youth employment under the modern challenges

Objective: to systematize and develop ideas about the improvement of the Russian state policy to promote youth employment. Methods: the work is based on the analysis of literature and normative-legal documents using general scientific methods of cognition. Results: the paper reveals the legal bases for the activities of Russian authorities in the field of promoting youth employment and developing labor market. It is shown that, despite the variety of measures, young people still face serious barriers to successful career starting and stable employment in general. The analysis summarizes the priority areas of action to overcome the most pressing problems, including: loose regulation of the status of a young specialist; limited statistics; low awareness of young people about the situation on the labor market; mismatch between the personnel produced and the current needs of the economy, etc. The conclusion emphasizes the importance to summarizing the accumulated experience and practical application of the most beneficial solutions, taking into account the specifics of the Russian labor market. Scientific novelty: the conducted research contributes to the development of theoretical and practical issues of promoting youth employment, including the deepening of ideas about the main barriers to stable employment and measures to overcome them. Practical significance: the study results can be used, first of all, in the practice of public administration at any level to improve the policy to promote youth employment.

National labor market and labor remuneration regulatory considerations: Trends in the main indicators

Subject. This article discusses the issues of improving the standard of living, developing national human capital, and forming a socially oriented State policy. Objectives. The article aims to identify trends in the development of the national labor market based on statistical data for the period 2018–2022, and determine the peculiarities of the statutory regulation of labor relations in terms of remuneration of employees. Methods. For the study, we used the general scientific research methods. Results. Based on the analysis of changes in official statistical indicators, the article identifies the successes, challenges, problems and threats faced by the Russian labor market. Conclusions. The results of the study can be used when designing a policy in the field of labor and employment. The statutory regulation of remuneration needs to be improved.

Critical Challenges to the Sociology of Work: From a Perspective of Russian Labor Studies

ABSTRACTGlobal changes currently roiling the contemporary world of work present a significant challenge for the sociology of work. The lifestyles of many people are becoming more dynamic and uncertain. As work itself starts to lose its familiar outlines, the employment paradigm that formed during the industrial period seems increasingly inapplicable. Such transformations give rise to criticism of existing concepts and the emergence of new discourses that simultaneously expand and complicate an understanding of the prospects for further development. In this article, we attempt to uncover problems that limit the possibility of generalizing scientific understanding in the field of sociology of work. Particular attention is paid to the integration of Russian experience into the global agenda. The review highlights the importance of clarifying the blurred conceptual framework of the sociology of work, enhancing the distinction between work and life, and identifying the possibilities and limitations of using big data for empirical analysis. In conclusion, we emphasize the need to counter the fragmentation of the sociology of work and its “dissolution” into other areas of knowledge by providing a strong theoretical background while maintaining the comparability of measurements. Addressing these gaps is essential for a more accurate reflection of modern labor relations.

Actual Admission of an Employee to Work Within the Framework of the Concept of Transactions in Russian Labor Law

Actual Admission of an Employee to Work Within the Framework of the Concept of Transactions in Russian Labor Law

Potential labor force as a factor in eliminating shortages in the Russian labor market

Potential labor force as a factor in eliminating shortages in the Russian labor market

Сокращенная рабочая неделя: от вопросов внедрения до реальных экспериментов на примере зарубежных практик

The article reveals the main aspects of introducing a shortened work schedule into Russian labor practice. The relevance of the topic is currently confirmed not only by the demands of society, but also by the objective technological development of society. Employees of organizations around the world are waiting for changes in approaches to organizing working hours in accordance with the challenges of the time, which not only contribute to the transition to more flexible forms of employment, including remote work, but also to reducing working hours. Using the example of foreign practice of experiments with shortening working hours, the main options possible for using a shortened working week in the world and in Russia in particular are structured. Currently, the practice of switching to a four-day working week is being implemented with a reduction in the length of the working week, maintaining the number of working hours per week, as well as various options with maintaining or reducing wages. The problematic issues of the introduction of a shortened working week are highlighted, both on the part of employers, and on the part of the authorities and employees.

Current Situation in the Russian Labor Market: Structure, Parameters, Models

Current Situation in the Russian Labor Market: Structure, Parameters, Models

The role of training in the “school-to-work” transition in the Russian labour market

PurposeThe article aims to describe the role of training and examines the impact on the wages of university and college graduates.Design/methodology/approachWe use nationwide administrative data on university and college graduates in 2019. The population includes 1.3 million observations, of which 222,000 (∼16%) received training after graduation from an educational institution (from July 2019 to 2022). We used OLS and the “difference-in-differences” methods to estimate the returns to training. Estimates obtained using the DID method turned out to be several times smaller because they consider unobserved characteristics (abilities).FindingsWe obtained several key findings. First, the participation of graduates in training is high, despite their recent education. Second, undergoing training is conditional on the existence of wage returns. The results show a wage premium of 17.8% (OLS method) and 2.0% (DID method). Third, graduates from nonselective universities (with low state exam score) try to participate more actively in training to acquire missing knowledge and skills. The wage premium for graduates from nonselective universities is 19.1% (OLS method) and 5.1% (DID method). Fourth, there is a high return to training for graduates from socially relevant fields (education and healthcare), where training is regular and mandatory.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first to estimate the involvement and returns to training for graduates using nationwide administrative data in Russia.

Management of the Russian labor market: new trends

Management of the Russian labor market: new trends

Expansion of vacant jobs in the Russian labor market: Dynamics, composition, triggers

Expansion of vacant jobs in the Russian labor market: Dynamics, composition, triggers

The Russian labor market in the context of external and internal challenges

In a rapidly changing world, a situation of foreign political tension, informatization and technologization of the life of our state in all spheres of life, it is the labor market that is a kind of social indicator reflecting current problems, demands and trends in the development of Russian society. The labor market allows you to assess the size and structure of the country's population, to give characteristics of the working population, to assess the level of unemployment, health and prosperity of each family, etc. The active use of digital technologies and the use of artificial intelligence create new conditions for human life and work, while defining new requirements for it. The labor market is responsive to these changes. The article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of the labor market caused by changes in the external and internal living conditions of the Russian state. The purpose of the study is to identify and substantiate the directions of transformation of the Russian labor market as a social and economic tool for the development of the economy and the social sphere. The article presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of statistical information and analytical indicators of the labor market over the past 33 years (from 1990 to 2023), as well as summarizes and substantiates current problems and difficulties in the development of the labor sector in today's difficult realities. The significance of the research lies in the possibility of using the results of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the current state of the labor market, its demands and new development trends to train qualitatively new personnel, increase the competitiveness of employees and employers, and therefore to reduce social tension in society and economic growth in Russia.

Transformations of the Russian Labor Market: First and Second Waves

The research significance is determined because over the past three years the Russian labor market has gone through two waves of transformations. The COVID-19 epidemic caused the first wave of transformations, which continued until the end of 2021. The second one, caused by introducing sanctions against Russia, began in February 2022 and continued to this day. The subject of the study is the functioning parameters of the Russian labor market and the major new trends in its development. The paper aims to identify problem areas in the labor market and analyze measures for its development. It also examines the reform of the public employment service and improvement of labor legislation. Information sources: Russian and foreign scientific publications, specialized studies, as well as official open data from the state bodies. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the multidimensional approach to the analysis of the Russian labor market transformation in two waves, trends and for its outlooks growth.

Protection of Honor and Dignity in Labor Relations

In the article we examined one of the current problems, the problem of protecting the honor and dignity of workers during their working life. A certain difficulty arises in applying this principle in practice; employers are increasingly restricting the rights and freedoms of employees. Gender discrimination is unacceptable, since a person’s biological characteristics should not be a determining factor when hiring. The solution to the problems of gender inequality in the Russian labor market should be carried out gradually, starting with recognition at the state level of the existence of this problem. We believe that this problem has existed for a long time and is inherent in every team, therefore it is imperative to develop effective means of protection not only at the legislative level, but also at the local level, which can consider the characteristics of all aspects of labor relations.

A decade of decent work in Russia

This article presents the results of a study of the state and dynamics of the main indicators of «decent work» in the period from 2012 to 2022 in our country. The analysis was based on the relevant indicators recommended by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the articles presented in visualized material based on statistical information posted on the website of the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia. The main research methods were information analysis and statistical analysis. The study made it possible to draw the necessary conclusions based on its results. It is shown that the overall percentage of population employment remains relatively unchanged and is around 60 %. Positive trends, in general, include such indicators as a decrease in the unemployment rate, including, by gender, a decrease in the level of injuries, the number of overtime hours and the duration of work more than 48 hours a week; the decrease in the share of employees with low wages is almost linear downward trend, etc. Such areas as «Adequate earnings and productive employment», «Decent working hours» and «Safe work» fully correspond to the labor requirements of the 21st century. At the same time, existing problems that require a fair solution in the Russian labor sphere are emphasized. First of all, we are talking about the level of wages for men and women in a comparative aspect. The so-called «gender gap» in this area, unfortunately, continues to persist.

Institutional measures to support the Education – Labour Market system in regions of Russia

The paper analyses the dynamics of unemployment in the Central Federal District regions in 2018-2022. The main issues are problems at the Russian labour market in 2020-2023, and measures of their state regulation taken at the federal and regional levels. The paper considers the measures of state support for the Russian labour market during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic restrictions, and describes their consequences. Also there is an assessment of the role of secondary vocational education system, implementation of state programs and national projects, i.e. the federal projects «Professional», «Young Professionals». Paper listed the professions and specialties in colleges of the Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions. On the example of the Ivanovo region we consider the establishment of educational and production centres (clusters). The study considers goals, objectives, stages, directions of development, institutional environment, services of the National Qualifications System of the Russian Federation, the essence of Independent Qualification Assessment in details. The study also highlights the role of the state for a secondary vocational education system development.

Specifics of Systematic Challenges Development on Highly Qualified Labor Market

Key issues of Russian labor market transformation in the context of new challenges are discussed in this article. The authors pay special attention to the issue of perception of “high qualification” notion considering rising importance of soft skills. The authors’ approach to the solution of work force shortage issue is based on the analysis of trends in Russian labor market presented in the article and provides for two sources: retraining and reproduction of manpower on national base, and attraction of foreign specialists. The employer bears final responsibility for the professional’s work results regardless of model used to assess qualification, so the employers’ role in assessing (and more importantly developing) staff qualification should be fundamental.

Competencies in Higher Education and the Labor Market: A Sociocognitive Analysis of the Problem of Integration

Introduction. Professional competencies developed by the education system do not provide the high degree of integration with the real economy at the Russian labor market. The sociocognitive approach to social institutions as information processing systems suggests that this may be partly due to different languages used by employers and educational structures for describing competencies. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis of this mismatch drawing on the example of the applied sociology sector. Materials and Methods. The case study method was applied to the material of the archive of correspondence on personnel issues of a company from the field of applied sociology, which worked in 2012–2019 (46 papers). The hypothesis that employers and educational system use a different language for describing competencies was tested. Content analysis method was applied to the largest Russian job portals: hh.ru, superjob.ru and Avito.Rabota. The hypothesis of non-use of educational standards for describing competencies in the labor market was tested. Results. Both hypotheses were confirmed. Based on the results of the correspondence archive analysis, it was proved that employers use a language different from that of the education system when describing requirements to employees (including their competencies). The results of content analysis revealed the phenomenon of almost complete isolation of the labor market from the formal standards of higher education (educational standards for describing the competencies of sociologists were not used in a single vacancy or a resumé out of more than 32 thousand found on the portals). Discussion and Conclusion. To overcome the lack of demand for graduates in the labor market, it is necessary to overcome the existing language gap between the education system and employers. To this end, the system of validation of competencies should be changed. The source of their description should not be the education system itself, the texts and ideas that are born in it, but the requirements of employers, verbalized by them in the description of vacancies. Descriptions of competencies that do not meet the widely accepted requirements of employers should be automatically excluded from professional education standards as invalid. The results contribute to searching critical problems in the educational system and adapting it to the current needs of the labor market.

Labor market: current situation and near-term prospects

The article analyzes the current situation in the Russian labor market, which affects all its participants such as employing organizations and employees of various professions, specialties, and skill levels. All participants of the labor market either justify their expectations or face the need to revise them depending on the influence of various factors. The features of labor conditions that potential employees pay attention to in newly changed conditions have been identified. These include the remuneration size, the possibility of working time rational organization and finding a balance between work time and rest time, the presence of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DIE) concept in the organization environment. The tendencies of jobs creation and elimination in the labor market have been considered. The most rational ways of regulating the jobs number in accordance with the needs of the organization have been shown: job replacement – new high-tech jobs creation while eliminating obsolete existing ones. The skills of workers in high-tech positions that are most in demand from the employers’ point of view have been given. The main trends in the use of young specialists in the in-demand professions market have been considered.

Risk-based approach in external migration public management

The presence of risks emergence problem of socio-political conflict, threats to the preservation of Russian identity in the process of including foreign cultural groups of international migrants in Russian society is a consequence of public administration insufficient efficiency when implementing state migration and national policy. Applying the structural-functional method, the authors study public administration in the external migration sphere for compliance with its essential characteristics. The predominant focus of state management in the migration sphere on ensuring the human resources component of the Russian labor market, as well as on control over migration flows is combined with the state management model shortcomings in the sphere of migrants’ inclusion in the host community. External migration state management should be aimed at solving the socio-economic development problems in Russia and ensuring national security and at the same time should minimize potential risks of social and cultural nature. The authors propose a risk-oriented approach in the migration processes state management, based on a comprehensive consideration of tensions that arise both in the labor market of foreign workers and the foreigners’ inclusion in the Russian society. In order to implement the proposed method, it is advisable to define a single subject of state management, which will be able to exercise authority considering the migration process integrity.