Adaptation of Young People in the Labor Market

People aspire to improve their education and professional skills for self-realization in work; however, the conditions for achieving this goal appear to be insufficient and ineffective in a competitive labor market. What are the reasons for this situation?

In today's Russia, the system of professional education and the sphere of application of professional skills are developing in different directions. The education system is aimed at modernization based on European standards, orienting itself toward postindustrial society with the prevailing services sector, science intensive industry, information technologies, and international education space. The postindustrial employment model is targeted at a wealthy society as a services consumer characterized by both high demand and high purchasing power. In Russia the demand for these services is low because people are generally not wealthy. Moreover, the modernization processes in the economy are unstable, and there are visible signs of reindustrialization. As a consequence, there is an apparent inconsistency between the market for educational services and the labor market.

The long and difficult adaptation to the workplace is accompanied by the low satisfaction of employers with the professional competencies of university graduates (which is not surprising) and high demand for training programs to develop simple practical skills.  As a result, the “output” of this system is of little use for the labor market. The inconsistencies and disproportions found in the study represent, in fact, considerable economic and time costs both for individuals and society as a whole.