Phenomenon of Technological Unemployment: Inevitability of Transformation of Socio-Economic Relations

This article is aimed at studying the prospects for the development of social and economic relations in the context of forming digital economy and potential growth of technological unemployment. To achieve this goal, the article provides a retrospective analysis of works of various representatives of domestic and foreign economic schools, as well as proposals of the International Labor Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Judging by the results of the first part of the study, international institutions attempt to improve social and economic relations in a coordinated manner due to the fact that the rapid development of digital economy can have ambiguous consequences. However, the analysis shows that such actions are likely to be ineffective because of the unique characteristics of states. The second part of the study is aimed at studying the role and position of the Russian Federation in this process. For this purpose, the author carries out a chronological analysis of social and labor relations starting with the period of the Russian Empire and ending with modern Russia in the context of the phenomenon of technological unemployment. The results of the primary research indicate that, due to the unique socio-economic characteristics, technological unemployment was not a dominant feature of the Russian reality. However, a more detailed analysis based on specific empirical data allows us to identify the facts of technological displacement of the labor force, as well as describe the level of social and labor relations in the Russian Empire in the pre-revolutionary period. Based on the results obtained in the first and second parts of the study the author tries to give an objective description of the peculiarities of social and labor relations in the modern Russian Federation in the context of the potential growth of technological unemployment. The current economic picture points to the high risks of technological unemployment in the Russian Federation and updates the adoption of urgent measures to design improved social and labor relations in the Russian Federation.