Youth forms the human resources and future of the country. Therefore, it is important to know what ideals and attitudes of labor young people have when entering the labor market and how they can affect the quality of a recent graduate’s work; what factors affect professional self-determination, the choice of profession and what difficulties are faced by a young man or a woman; how stable is the commitment to the chosen profession; how the labor market and the educational services market interact in the modern Russian society, etc. In present-day conditions, professional self-determination of youth is defined not so much by individual factors as by social factors external to the essence of the profession chosen. A professional choice is made in a situation of uncertainty, often of an incidental nature, which has far-reaching consequences for both the individual and society as a whole, affecting the innovative development of the economy as a result. Closure of the system of occupational guidance of schoolchildren is one of the causes of disastrous imbalance between the Russian labor market, which requires, first of all, workers, industrial, including engineer professions, and educational services. In commitments of schoolchildren and students, labor values are deficient, they consider the most prestigious jobs to be the profession of a lawyer, a financial worker, a manager, an economist, a civil servant, etc. The study revealed a loss of interest in industrial professions in general, also among the youth who are not motivated to obtain working professions, to work in industrial enterprises. The needs of the labor market, the prospects for the country development testify to the need to improve, modernize, and not cut down the system of elementary vocational education, destined to train the workers to the level and the skill required by present-day production. A truly effective, not declarative state youth policy is needed, and a more sound coordination between the labor market and the educational services market is needed in order to bring the vocational education system of all levels in line with the structure of labor market needs.

career guidance, career choice, vocational education, social adaptation, labour orientations, labour market

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