Employee Competence in Conditions of Socio-Economic Uncertainty

Abstract

Using sociological literature as a foundation, this article examines such a phenomenon as employee competence in the current landscape. In part one of the article we sought to formulate the sociological concept of uncertainty and trace its evolution depending on the stage of social development. Uncertainty in the postindustrial period is defined as a plethora of processes and phenomena associated with increasingly autonomous living, susceptibility to an environment that’s constantly changing, as well as a multitude of potential alternative solutions and actions. These conditions foster massive opportunities for people to unlock their creative potential, the downside being increased anxiety and insecurity, social isolation and inequality. The second part of the article focuses on studying such a phenomenon as the competence of modern-day workers, given the current context of socio-economic uncertainty. Although competence has developed based on the industrial model of professional training, it is currently transitioning to the next stage of its evolution. With modern capitalism undergoing rejuvenation, competence is sort of individualizing, becoming defined by one’s cultural capital, personality traits and biography, turning out to be unique and possessing internal complexity and flexibility. This new sort of competence is welcome in places where the main criteria are high level of qualification and up to date knowledge, that contribute to developing the most cutting edge and creative sectors of the economy, new spaces and forms of work activity. When it comes to non-ideal workers, for them competence embodies a rational strategy of situational adaptation of their skills and abilities to the current labor market. Certain new educational and political initiatives are developing in that same general direction, with them aiming to reproduce “aptitude for employment” among the vast majority of the working population. But at the same time labor markets and organizations are starting to function as “machines that reproduce inequality”. Despite the fact that modern competence is being engulfed by an entire industry of intermediaries, achieving it is proving to be a difficult task for modern society.