Suchergebnisse

This article reveals the key factors (economic, technological, demographic, socio-cultural, gender) and the ongoing/emerging changes in the social and labor system of society. Changes affect all spheres and contexts without exception (labor market, organization and working conditions, population employment system, management and labor processes, content, workplace culture and ethics.) At the same time, they are often contradictory, and not necessarily tangible, perceived or evaluated as changes. Multiplicity and scale, acceleration and capacity of changes form the conditions for the development of a new quality of the system — its fragility. The fragility is understood as the actual distribution of essentially new and uncontrolled processes and phenomena within the social labor system behind the external facade of its integrity and stability. Experts and politicians everywhere are asking questions about whether it is possible to overcome the current state of affairs and what the future is going to be for social labor and employment. It is important for the scientific community to determine the principles of theoretical analysis and the means of modern labor sphere investigating.

The aim of the study presented in this article is to determine the characteristics of Russian mothers seeking care and education services for their children. This work examines the transformation of the traditional family function of raising, socializing and educating children. Currently we are witnessing an increase in the number of parents who resort to paid family services. Therefore it is important to understand the evolution of this market segment, what defines consumers' choice of services and which types of services are the most popular, while also assessing costumer satisfaction with the services they acquired. Analysis is conducted based on a series of semi-structured interviews with Russian women who have children of preschool or school age. Respondents included both working (be it on hire or self-employed) and unemployed women. Research was conducted within Nizhniy Novgorod city limits. While conducting the interviews, it was discovered that the basic selection of paid services which parents acquire includes services offered by children's development centers, paid additional lessons at kindergarten or school, sports clubs, dance, art and foreign language lessons; children's parties – renting dedicated facilities, hiring clowns, purchasing thematic programs and holiday treats; hiring babysitters (either on a regular basis or on demand), psychologists and parenting coaches. The authors reached the conclusion that modern urban families tend to split their responsibility (delegate authority) for raising, caring for and educating their children with those who have expertise in this field. Consumption of services by urban families starts earlier and continues for a longer period of time – in line with their children maturing – there's not too much diversity, but consumption does depend on such important motives as the desire to satisfy today's requirements for raising and developing children, parents freeing up spare time for their own needs, taking care of the child's future.

This article is devoted to issues associated with developing a digital economy in the Russian Federation, given a context where digital technologies are finding their way into the work process. The current discussions on "digitalization" increasingly emphasize there not being any alternative to mastering these technologies. With it being a condition of employment, the use of various digital products demands that workers immerse themselves into the digital environment, which, in turn, sets the course for developing digital competencies. For starters, based on the authors examining a sample of job openings, the digital competencies that are currently in demand on the labor market were determined, with them having to correspond with workplace equipment status. All devices and technologies currently used by Russian enterprises and organizations are presented as digital means of labor, while being divided into classes and groups. Together they constitute certain parameters which the authors used as a foundation for their research on the digital competencies of workers or their digital career capital. Then analysis was conducted of data from a telephone survey of working residents of Saint-Petersburg, in order to determine their motivations and priorities when it comes to developing digital competencies. The results attained from the study suggest that building digital capital is demanded by the labor market, and that it can (and should) be focused on the needs of Russia's economy. In the meantime digital competencies among the working population mostly depend on workers' qualification, their age and abundance of digital technology in their everyday life. The latter is just as critical a factor as the work environment when it comes to defining the algorithms of familiarizing oneself with the products of the digital revolution. However, the population does not have a clear understanding on what digital knowledge and skills need to be acquired, while lacking the motivation to improve their skill set in this field. Employees often fail to see the opportunities offered by developing digital capital in the workplace. Regardless, most of them rightfully understand that changes in technology are inevitable and desirable, and that they need to be able to keep up. Hence this article analyzes, on one hand, the demand for digital competencies, shaped by the current situation on the labor market, and on the other hand – the motivations and expectations of the employees themselves in terms of possibilities for their use and further development. The results of the study allowed its authors to paint a comprehensive picture of the processes which bring the working population to enhance their digital competencies.