Transformation of employment conditions in information-network economy

Abstract

The features of information and network economy influence on the nature of employment are being analyzed. With the development of the fifth technological mode, mechanical movement of the labour forces from one industry to another one is impossible. This is prevented by a broad restructuring of the occupational structure of employment, the disappearance of many "old" professions and the emergence of the ones, which require special educational training. There is a growing share of employment mainly in mental labour and decrease of the proportion of persons employed in manual labour, which includes workers of all skill levels. The reduction of productive employment, partly related to labour productivity growth, is offset by its growth in non-manufacturing "computer" occupations - among various administrative support staff servicing computers, creators of peripheral equipment and programmers, operators of local networks etc. New information technologies make it possible to extend flexible forms of employment that do not require steady jobs. In this process, the information economy can provide a number of issues in employment related to the erosion of traditional social and labour relations, weakening of the legal protection of employees in the information business that requires adequate response of the society and the state.