Employment Attitudes of Graduates of Higher and Secondary Specialized Educational Institutions of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic

Introduction. Analytical reports of international expert councils record changes in the list of key risks that, along with climate change and geopolitical instability, can have a significant impact on the sustainable development of the states of our planet ^[16]. Transformations occurring in the labor market under the influence of the achievements of information and technological progress are singled out as one of the significant sources of risk. Experts note that the division of labor between humans and artificial intelligence will depend on the complexity of automating tasks related to perception, creative intelligence and social skills. Professions related to manual labor, medical diagnostics and surgery, transport and many other areas of work are at risk. At the same time, professions that require knowledge based on human heuristics and empathy will be in demand in the labor market.

The transformations currently taking place and predicted in the near future in the labor market are fraught with significant threats to social stability for Kabardino-Balkaria. The Republic is one of the poorest regions of Russia ^[14], with high rates of unemployment among the population. The release of labor resources caused by digital transformation threatens to multiply social risks in the region. That is why it is necessary to study the labor attitudes of senior students receiving specialized secondary and higher education in educational institutions of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.

The degree of development. The study of the labor attitudes of young people occupies an important place in Russian sociology. The transition to market relations, which destroyed the Soviet model of labor education, led to the fact that the motivation for work among Russian youth is connected, first of all, with strategies of self-realization and obtaining material prosperity ^[15]. This circumstance is noted in the works of E.V. Adrianova ^[1], E.V. Kornienko ^[9], G.B. Kosharnaya, N.V. Korzh ^[10], etc.

Yu.A. Zubok and V.I. Chuprov, investigating the problems of training and demand for young specialists in the labor market, noted that "there is no connection between training in higher education and the labor market. Universities do not show interest in the work of graduates in their specialty, without having information about the real needs of the labor market and the necessary levers of control. It is not profitable for enterprises to train young specialists, it is easier for them to fill jobs with unattractive types of work" ^{[8, p. 121]}.

V.V. Retivina in her work ^[13] comes to the conclusion that the formation and formation of student youth labor attitudes depend not only on the younger generation, but also on the practical implementation of the principles of a comprehensive youth policy in the country. T.A. Pakina, based on the analysis of labor behavior and values of Nizhny Novgorod university students, identifies the structure of the basic values of modern youth, in which the values of labor occupy a significant place ^[12]. The essence and dynamics of labor attitudes and values of youth are considered in their works by domestic sociologists: M.K. Gorshkov, F.E. Sheregi ^[7], V.S. Magun ^[11], Yu.R. Vishnevsky ^[6] and others.

Several scientific papers ^[2,3,4,5] are devoted to the research of regional peculiarities of the labor market of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. In their works, the researchers note that there is an imbalance between outgoing and staying citizens in the republic, both by age and in educational terms: "firstly, the high outflow of young people (16-29 years old) and the productive population (20-49 years old) - more than 40% and 60%, respectively, leads to deformation in the age group the structure of the population. Secondly, as a result of the outflow of the most educated and capable part of the population and the influx of low–skilled and unskilled labor, there is a danger of accumulation of the poorly educated part of the youth and the unclaimed amount of foreign labor" ^{[2, p. 120]}.

It should be noted that the research conducted at the regional level poorly reflects the changes taking place in the labor market of Kabardino-Balkaria under the influence of digital transformation, which predetermines scientific interest in this process.

The empirical basis of the study is a questionnaire survey conducted in May 2022 among graduates of certain areas of training in higher (universities) and secondary specialized (colleges) educational institutions of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. The focus of attention was, first of all, graduates of the areas of training specialists for the IT industry: applied mathematics and computer science, computer science and computer engineering, information security, microelectronics, etc. For comparative analysis, a survey was conducted among graduates of the socio-humanities (law, tourism, organization of work with youth and others) and agricultural directions (agronomy, horticulture, technology of production and processing of agricultural products). The survey covered all full–time graduates of the above-mentioned areas of specialist training - 240 people.

The results of the study. The digital transformation taking place in modern Russia, under the influence of the achievements of information and technological progress, has a noticeable impact on the labor market in almost all regions of the country, including in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. New professions are emerging, specialists in which are in demand on the labor market, other professions that were recently considered prestigious and in demand (for example, lower- and middle-level bank employees) are losing their importance, and workers are massively replenishing cohorts of unemployed in the regions. The speed of transformations taking place in the labor markets is so high that having entered a university or a secondary school for any popular specialty today, upon graduation it may turn out that a specialist of this profile is no longer in demand, since his place is now occupied by a robot with the appropriate software that allows you to work much more efficiently than an ordinary person. In these conditions, in our opinion, effective career guidance work among students is of great importance.

In order to find out how effectively career guidance work is carried out in Kabardino-Balkaria, respondents were asked to evaluate the regularity and quality of career guidance activities in which they participated. The results of the study showed that only 56% of the respondents participated in career guidance activities (Figure 1), and only 25% noted that thanks to the knowledge gained in these lessons, they chose their profession (Figure 2). This result, in our opinion, suggests that the career guidance work carried out in educational institutions of Kabardino-Balkaria does not meet the challenges of the time and needs significant adjustment.

Fig. 1. You held the school career guidance lessons?

Fig. 2. If You attended classes at the school of counseling, how they were useful to You?

The specialty obtained, among those who complete higher educational institutions of the region, going to work – 58.2% of respondents (figure 3). The higher this value is among those who complete the training effort for the IT industry – 77.6 per cent, the lowest value among those who complete the agricultural areas of training – 57% (table 1). Given that various aspects of social communication are gradually moving to digital form, it is no wonder the desire of many young people to find their future profession in the field of IT-technologies. In contrast, the attractiveness of labor in agriculture is reduced, as the work in this area is difficult and not very profitable. Probably, as the introduction of modern technologies in the agricultural sector Kabardino-Balkar Republic attractiveness of the work on the ground will increase.

Table 1. Are you going to work in your specialty?

Graduates of secondary specialized educational institutions (colleges) showed even less desire to work in the specialty they receive – 44%. However, 16% of respondents noted that they are going to continue their studies in their specialty at a university (Figure 3). In general, we see that a significant part of future young workers, with the exception of graduates studying in the areas of training specialists for the IT industry, do not want to associate their work with the profession they receive. This circumstance confirms, in our opinion, the existence of systemic problems in the training of personnel for the economy of the region.

Fig. 3. Are you going to work in your specialty? (graduates of SSUZ)         

The data revealed in the course of the study demonstrate the existing potential for the growth of social tension in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Young people go to study in order to become successful in life and develop as individuals (Figure 4), but after graduation they face a harsh reality in which they cannot find their place in the labor market. This creates a desire among young people to go to other regions for self-realization, which negatively affects the economic potential of Kabardino-Balkaria, which is losing the most active and educated people.

Fig. 4. What are your motives for getting an education? (no more than 3 possible answers)         

When planning their future career, graduates most often saw themselves as self-employed entrepreneurs or employees of the public sector. Graduates of secondary specialized educational institutions show the greatest desire for entrepreneurial activity – 58%, among graduates of higher educational institutions – 31% (Figure 5). Among graduates of various fields of training, entrepreneurial activity, as the most acceptable option for further work, is in demand, to a greater extent, among young people receiving a profession related to agriculture – 41% (Table 2). This is due to the fact that in Kabardino-Balkaria, agriculture has been developing most actively in recent years, which has received more attention, both at the regional and federal levels. Despite the fact that many young people do not want to work in agriculture, those who want to work in this field prefer to work for themselves rather than for any company. Young people, seeing successful examples of self-realization in this industry from their elders on a daily basis, strive to imitate this.

Fig. 5. What would you like to do after graduation?

 IT

Table 2. What would you like to do after graduation?

Conclusions. The conducted research has shown that in Kabardino-Balkaria there is a systemic problem of personnel training for the economy of the region. Career guidance work, which, if effectively applied, can serve as one of the key factors of the socio-economic development of the republic, is poorly organized. A significant part of young people do not receive up-to-date information about the potential directions of economic and labor market development, and the career guidance lessons themselves do not arouse their interest. This leads to structural unemployment in the region, in which there are many vacancies in employment centers, but young people do not have the appropriate education and do not want to take these jobs. At the same time, future IT industry specialists who have received specialized education in educational institutions of Kabardino-Balkaria demonstrate a greater desire to work in their field, which, in our opinion, is not an unexpected result. The ongoing digital transformation opens up great prospects for working in this sector of the economy.

    It was also revealed that a significant part of graduates of universities and colleges in the region would like to engage in entrepreneurial activity and work for themselves, which indicates a decrease in the importance of paternalistic behaviors among the population of the region, especially among young people. At the same time, it should be noted that work in various state-owned enterprises and organizations is still in demand among many graduates, especially those who receive social and humanitarian specialties.