Transformation of employment structure as a condition for the emergence of precarious forms of labor relations

The study shows the role of human capital as one of the competitive advantages of the national economy. The authors structure the factors influencing the reproduction of human capital including those associated with the heterogeneity of workers (difference in the knowledge, skills, experience, productivity), heterogeneity of jobs (difference in working conditions, location, social allowances, benefits), imperfection of the labor market (restrictions on the mobility of workers, discrimination in the labor market, imperfect information). The study focuses on the aspects related to the heterogeneity of jobs, in particular, the transformation of employment structure as one of the conditions for the emergence of precarious employment. The authors reveal parameters that affect the transformation of employment structure and indirectly contribute to the increasing prevalence of precarious work, including: increased global competition, and the consequent need to reduce costs, including personnel costs, technological developments (application of computer and information technology, development of small enterprises with flexible terms of employment), emergence of new economic forms and mixed economy (prevalence of different forms of ownership, including the private form, and creating conditions for precarious employment), reduction of employment in industry and agriculture - the main consumers of people with “standard employment”. Based on the analysis of statistical data, the authors reveal the increasing prevalence of precarious work in the dynamics and geography. It is shown that men are often employed on a “long” work week; in women, the work week is shorter. This situation is partly attributed to the changing professional skill structure of employment and to the employment of men on the jobs of professionals and managers with a longer timetable relative to the planned one. The article reveals an increased differentiation of territories by the indicators of precarious employment. It shows direct positive correlation between the parameters characterizing unstable employment and socio-economic development of territories; it is established that in conditions of high socio-economic level of development of territories, the risk of involvement of population in precarious employment decreases.