Return to industrialization: a big plus of the labor shortage in Russia

What does a door on an American passenger plane that fell off during a flight have in common with a labor shortage in Russia? The reason for both is the unfounded belief in post-industrial civilization. For modern man, the benefits of civilization created by generations of workers seem to be a natural phenomenon. Always, from birth, from the very first memories, the house was warm, and for this there was no need to do anything – cut down the forest, saw trunks, chop wood, light the stove. To make it light, it was always enough to press the switch key, and not to drown the lard and roll candles out of it. And if in the old fairy tale water could be delivered to the house only at the behest of a magic pike, now residents of high-rise buildings simply open the tap. It seems that all these elements of comfort are part of the universe. This is probably why, when Daniel Bell came up with the idea of ​​a post-industrial society, millions of intellectuals around the world took up his theory. Why does humanity need workers when there is knowledge, information and, of course, services? And everyone raced to an easy, beautiful and interesting future, where the service class would replace the working class.

Russia did not escape this global mainstream – plants and factories were closed en masse, freeing up territories for comfortable housing and shopping and entertainment complexes, and universities began to graduate crowds of lawyers, economists and managers instead of engineers. This process was superimposed on decommunization, which, if not taboo, then certainly marginalized leftist thinkers of the past. Quoting Karl Marx has become indecent. But in vain! The great philosopher got to the bottom of things, to the simple, understandable and tangible foundations of the universe. The world is material and man is material, Marx taught. And for a person to exist, he must consume, use something material – food, clothing, housing. All this can be created in one and only way – take natural raw materials and transform them with the help of labor. However, if we consider the benefits of civilization to be a natural phenomenon, then there is no room left for labor. After all, there are machines that replace human labor.

These views were enough for several decades, but suddenly it turns out that there are not enough workers in Russia. Where are they? And why, for what actions are they missing? To greatly exaggerate, it can be argued that when primitive man picked up a digging stick, the productivity of his labor increased so much that he was able to feed not just himself, but two. Then he got a slave, gave him a digging stick, and he himself indulged in thinking about the fate of humanity. This was called the slave system. Over time, labor productivity only increased. Finally, it grew so much that only a small percentage of the planet’s population was able to create something useful, consumable, satisfying needs – food, clothing, buildings, household items, while everyone else indulged in thinking about the fate of humanity. Well, or they did each other’s hair, sang songs, wrote novels, speeches and reports. This was similar to the post-industrial society Bell predicted.

From 2005 to 2022, the share of working-age Russians employed in agriculture, forestry, fishing and fish farming fell by almost half – from 10.1% to 5.8%. In manufacturing industries – from 17.7% to 14.1%. But the ranks of scientists and administrators have doubled. The service sector has predictably also expanded. For example, the share of financiers and insurers has more than doubled, and the share of those employed in catering, hotel business, culture, sports, leisure and entertainment has increased significantly. At the same time, the share of leaders, managers, and various kinds of “paper shifters” is growing. And in the activities of every useful employee, fussing with reports, plans, and unsubscribes becomes increasingly unnecessary for the real business. We are confidently transforming ourselves into a “helpful nation.” But if everyone provides services to each other, there will be no one to grow wheat and bake bread. But what about smart machines, robots that should replace humans? But there is no one to make these cars either! Given this trend, it is not surprising that the country does not have enough workers to satisfy all the needs of Russians: for every one with a fry, we have seven with a spoon.

However, this situation is not only in Russia. Czech intellectual Ivan Hoffman says: “There was a time when progress was associated with industrialization, to which Europe owes its prosperity. The smoke from the factory chimneys did not bother anyone, and everyone understood why the smoking factories were located in the city – it was around the factories that cities grew. Now the factory chimney is considered a source of pollution, factories in cities are being demolished. Today’s city no longer produces anything material or necessary. Deindustrialization in Europe improves the environment, but worsens the standard of living and is accompanied by a decline in education, because technicians and engineers are useless for Europe, universities produce philosophers.” Hoffman asks: If Europe used to offer the world goods that no one else could produce, what can it offer now? This question can be asked by any society and every person. When receiving something material, useful, consumed – what do I give in return? Shifting papers? Performing bureaucratic rituals that are necessary only because someone invented them? An honest answer will not help you escape from the quagmire of the “post-industrial”, but it will suggest a way out. We need to remember that the world is material. Remember, acknowledge, feel. Return to reality.

The same disconnect from reality caused Boeing’s problems. It turned out that the bolts that secured the emergency exit hatch were not tightened enough. Having learned about this, the American aviation authorities immediately gave the command to check the fastening of the rear left hatch on all aircraft of the same model. The check showed that the defect occurs quite often. But the team did not check the remaining hatches, and they are not being checked. Game? No, post-industrial logic. Russians who have visited a tour of the assembly shops of the Boeing plant are amazed. Some even ask the accompanying company representative what is going on – a strike or an extended lunch break. From the gallery through which tourists are allowed to walk, one can see that people who bear little resemblance to workers – no uniforms, no helmets – are moving sluggishly and chaotically, like sleepy autumn flies, around the workshop. The work is not in full swing, but barely warm. The greatest energy can only be seen… at the ping-pong table, where the players gather a crowd of fans around them. Is it possible to assemble airplanes like this? In a post-industrial society, it is possible. The lack of uniforms is explained by the fact that “it’s more convenient for the workers.” We cannot, they say, infringe on their right to self-expression in clothing.

All other liberties are just as post-industrial; they are generated not by the goals of production, but by certain ideas of humanities managers. Why humanities? Yes, because, as Ivan Hoffman said, deindustrialization causes the degradation of technical education, leading positions in management are occupied by “philosophers”, not engineers. And this already entails further deindustrialization and degradation of the entire technosphere, the entire material civilization. A vicious circle that turns into a downward spiral. If the United States is not going to slow down on this path, and Europe is only adding momentum, then the current shortage of workers in Russia says that our country has a chance to cast aside the obsession of post-industrial theory.

The shortage of workers is a sign of industrialization, industrialization 2.0. And this is a reason to comprehend what is happening. The labor shortage is not a population shortage, it is a structural problem. If, for example, with the wave of a magic wand you double the population at once, but maintain the current post-industrial employment structure, then there will still not be enough hands – just as for one “plowman with a plow” there will be seven “eaters with spoons”. There is no hope that the “invisible hand of the market” will sort everything out. Skilled workers and engineers do not turn out from humanists, officials, and nail designers who have changed jobs. They need to be taught, and taught for a long time. This means that at the state level it is necessary to reconsider approaches to the economy, recognize that the service class will never, under any circumstances, replace the working class, and begin to purposefully train personnel. And when statistics record the dissolution of the still growing service class in favor of those employed in production, we can breathe a sigh of relief – we have avoided the point of no return.