Modern Worker: Conceptualization and Empirical Test

Abstract

Svetlana Klimova — Leading Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: Bldg. 5, 24/35, Krzhizhanovskogo St., Moscow, 117218, Russian Federation. E-mail: sgklimova@mail.ru

Roman Abramov — Associate Professor, Sociological Faculty, National Research University “Higher School of Economics”. Address: 20, Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. E-mail: roman_na@mail.ru

The creative class, or ‘innovators’, are a new social group of people who create new knowledge. The modern wage-workers are people who analyze information, generate new ideas and use complex systems of knowledge. The new type of market requires new workers. They have to be flexible and competent. The ‘Public Opinion’ Fund conducted a mass representative survey in September 2009 to study the specifics of worker labor behavior. Five strategies of such behavior were distinguished in the course of this study, including innovation strategies. The article analyzes socio-demographic parameters, qualification characteristics and orientations in the labor sphere between the various strategies of workers.