The relevance of studying the social and labor sphere from the position of its tendencies and risks for the formation of the quality of working life is due to the search of determinants causing its low estimates. It is important to address the issues concerning the quality of working life because the quality of life in general becomes today the main criterion of social progress, indicating the turn of the economy toward human needs and its humanization. The article analyzes trends in the social and labor sphere (employment, unemployment, working conditions). It shows changes taking place inside the socio-demographic groups of the employed population (growth of educational level, growth of highly educated population in the composition of the unemployed, etc.). We highlight the causes of economic losses related to the unsatisfactory condition of workplaces, the maintenance of a high share of workers in industries with harmful and hazardous working conditions, and workplace injuries. We provide index assessments of the quality of working life of the employed population and assess workers’ low satisfaction with working conditions. The information base is represented by the data of a sociological survey of employable population of the region, conducted by RAS Vologda Research Center in 2018 and 2020. The article uses the method of subjective evaluation of quality of working life by the indicators that characterize people’s assessment of wages, working conditions, organizational and economic characteristics, and socio-psychological conditions. Scientific novelty of the research consists in substantiating the influence of social and labor sphere on the formation of the quality of working life of the working population. Practical significance lies in the development of proposals to improve the quality of working life, which helps to obtain positive results in terms of improving the efficiency of working activity. Various social innovations (organizational, environmental, aesthetic, etc.) in the workplace that influence employees’ work efficiency (for example, the introduction of health saving programs at enterprises and organizations, which will reduce losses from disability) can be such tools. They can also include surveys of employees about their satisfaction with the quality of working life in a special assessment of working conditions
Keywords
employment, quality of working life, workplace, social and labor sphere, working potential