Labor biographies of russian workers: from search to survival

The article aims to study labor biography of industrial workers. It is based on the materials of in-depth interviews conducted in the Ulyanovsk region in 2020–2021. The authors propose a new approach to the study of labor biographies, taking the concept of work capacity. They distinguish three main stages: labor search, labor balance and labor survival. This division is based on the logic of workers building their own professional path, therefore, considering stages do not have certain age or time limits. The authors give main characteristic of the worker’s behavior for each of this stage. The purpose of labor search is to choose such type of employment or working conditions that would suit the physical capabilities, personality and salary expectations of the worker, as well as their ability to learn new professional skills. The stage of labor balance is characterized by achieving a balance between different types of employment that allows workers to cope with high physical exertion and provide the desired standard of living. The stage of labor survival is aimed at preserving the workplace, adapting the labor process to the current state of health and reduced physical capabilities. The authors emphasize that the work capacity (in the form of health, professional experience and knowledge) is not the resources that are valued by both employers and workers. As a consequence, the stages of labor search and balance can quite quickly be replaced by the stage of labor survival.