Dynamics of socio-cultural indicators of labor competitiveness of the population of a large Siberian region (2010-2016)

The goal of the paper is to study the dynamics of competitiveness of the population in one of the large Siberian regions (on the materials of Krasnoyarsk Krai). We use the socio-cultural approach (RAS Corresponding Member N.I. Lapin) and appropriate methodological tools in the research. Traditional and market motivation of people and their labor preferences are analyzed for the first time as socio-cultural indicators of competitiveness. Labor preferences act in the form of orientation toward working at enterprises (organizations) belonging to various forms of ownership. We show that in the majority of foreign economic studies, competitiveness is considered as the quality and ability to achieve one's own goals at the international level with one's own products and services. Many publications are devoted to comparative studies of competitiveness at the level of enterprises (firms). Interdisciplinary phenomena such as human capital and education are also studied in this context. The paper reveals the content and importance of international comparative studies of competitiveness and the formation of this phenomenon from the standpoint of management theory and psychology, among various categories of young people, as well. The article is based on the data of mass surveys of the region's residents through formalized interviews conducted in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. We show that Krasnoyarsk Krai experienced a slight weakening of traditional labor attitudes and preferences of the population. But they have always occupied the most important position in the mass consciousness of the respondents. We found out that there is a slight increase in the proportion of residents with market labor orientation and preferences. We conclude that the competitiveness of the region's population decreases in conditions of market relations formed in the Russian society. We prove it is necessary to implement a comparative approach to studying the features of competitiveness of population of various Russian territories with use of the “Socio-cultural portrait of the region” technique. We propose to carry out further analysis of people's competitiveness in the regions broken down by social groups and age cohorts and to supplement the set of tools with the indicators used in several international comparative studies.