PRECARITIZATION AND LABOR SELF-FULFILLMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE:

TRENDS AND EFFECTS

Abstract

Evaluation of the current transformations of the social and labor structure of society is one of the central topics in sociological knowledge. At the present stage, all social structures and institutions are becoming more flexible, mobile and changeable, characterized by instability and insecurity. Labor practices, professional trajectories and careers of young people also become unstable. The attention of an increasing number of scientists is attracted to non-linear youth employment strategies that contribute to the formation of a new “group” in the social structure of modern Russian society - the precariat. This article presents the results of a study of precarization in the youth environment as a consequence of the socio-economic transformations of recent decades. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with unstable busy young people of Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan, Russia), as well as a secondary analysis of sociological and statistical data, factors, motives and consequences of young people choosing precarious employment are considered. It is shown that precarious forms of employment are considered by young people as a temporary measure, consent to such work leaves the possibility to easily and simply refuse it if it does not fit, and the decision on unstable employment without social guarantees can be either forced or voluntary.