The Labour Forum is being held in the Northern capital city for the second year in a row and is the main venue in the country where they are speaking about human capital development, robotics, agile technologies, and the competencies of the future and today’s “working man”. More than 4,000 people will come to the Forum – scientists, entrepreneurs, state officials, experts from employment services, volunteers from 50 countries around the world and regions ofRussia.

The concepts of labour of the future and 4.0 industry, approaches to efficient regulation of the labour market by the state, migration issues and labour market globalization, agile in budgetary institutions, human capital as the growth point for the economy, and digital solutions for HR are being widely discussed at the Forum.

The conference of the World Association of Public Employment Services, the international scientific and practical conference “Labour Law’s Economic Function: Past, Present, Future” (The Eighth Pashkov Conference) will take place. “HR Hackathon” will help reveal promising IT solutions for HR departments ofSt. Petersburg’s biggest employers, created by talented young professionals.

The exhibitors at the “Human Resources. Management. Safety” exhibition present today’s personal protective equipment, safety clothing and footwear, IT solutions and services for education and development. The “Odezhda dlya Raboty” (Working Clothes) company is demonstrating working clothes made in St. Petersburg, while “Technoavia”, which has eight sewing factories, is demonstrating working clothes as well as footwear made from natural leather and furs, which don’t slip.

“Westbalt Samospas” is presenting its self-protection systems, which help people without special training to escape in case of fire, earthquake, terrorist act – Samospas rescue systems, a self-moving chair that can go down stairs, folding stretchers. The Hilton and Hampton hotels on the territory of the ExpoForum Convention & Exhibition Centre, as well as theConstantinePalace, Lubyanka and other properties are equipped with Samospas devices.

“Fest” is another well-known exhibitor, which has been making first-aid kits for more than 25 years. The 200-year-old Dupont company is presenting its TYVEK overalls made from unique membrane material – non-woven polyethylene that “breathes” and at the same time protects the wearer. The overalls are used at motor vehicle manufacturing plants, oil companies, and to deal with catastrophes all over the world.

As Dmitry Cherneyko, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee for Labour and Employment of the Population, told journalists, it’s important for children to try many career paths starting from around 10 years of age, and then select their vocation.

“Now, it’s impossible to say what positions today’s schoolchildren will occupy – the changes currently going on are fantastic, though it’s possible to foresee a lot. If we give a development direction to young people, they won’t make mistakes in future. It’s impossible to build either a German or a French market model in Russia, but we must know everything that is going on for us not to make mistakes in our decisions. We need to create a common human capital market”, he said.

As he pointed out, there is a high level of women’s employment inRussia, a giant territory, uneven development and special features of labour markets in various regions.

“The exact sciences, mathematics and literature will definitely not disappear. And everyone needs to develop their practical competencies”, he said.

The Forum takes place on 1 and 2 March at the ExpoForum Convention & Exhibition Centre. The organizers are the St. Petersburg Government,St. PetersburgStateUniversity, and ExpoForum International.