"Old" and "New" Professions in the World of New Reality
Zhan TOSCHENKO, Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation; The Russian State University for the Humanities, Russian Federation; The Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation
Abstract The professional structure of society has always been a vivid indicator of maturity, development and success in the use and application of human capital. It has been and remains a characteristic of its compliance with the needs of scientific and technological progress. Speaking about the “old” professions, the lion's share is occupied by engineering personnel and workers in the mass professions, since for a long time not only the functioning of what was achieved depended on them, but also the further improvement of equipment, technologies, functions and management methods. This professional structure is undergoing major changes. Arrival of Fourth industrial revolution involves the use of cyberphysical systems in production and servicing of human needs, including everyday life, work and leisure, as well as the transition from industrial to local and even “home” production of most goods thanks to the 3D printer technology. This revolution is aimed at the widespread use of flexible avant-garde technologies, digitalization of many sectors of the economy. Consequently, professions of a fundamentally different order will be required; the remaining ones will cardinally change the functions and methods of implementing; those that can/will be replaced by employees capable of performing fundamentally new functions will vanish. However, real processes in the Russian economy show that of the approximately 450 elementary professions that make up 9 enlarged professional groups, two groups lead by a large margin in number: car drivers and sellers (about 7% each). This is followed by specialists with higher education in the fields of production, natural and engineering sciences (5.1% of all employed). Professions associated with the digital economy occupy a modest place (2-3%). Thus, in real life, we are dealing with a solution to a very complex socio-economic problem - the continuing preservation of old professions and the difficult formation of new professions.
Group: RC30 Sociology of Work Session Selection: Russia on the Threshold of Digital Economy: Problems of Quality of Employment and Humanization of Work Title: "Old" and "New" Professions in the World of New Reality
