Technology is changing not only the world around us, but also the labor market itself. Due to the automation of production, the development of artificial intelligence, quantum technologies some specialtiesa are facing extinction, but at the same time new jobs are being created. Russian problems have also contributed to the development of the IT industry: relocation, sanctions pressure and the exit of foreign companies from the market. Now we need to develop the IT sector many times faster than previously planned in order to at least catch up with foreign competitors and replace them in the domestic market. But how can the younger generation choose who to study for if the planning horizon now does not exceed a couple of years? Which professions will disappear forever and what to do for those from whom technology will take away the workplace?

Experts of the round table discussion tried to answer these and other questions: Nikita Sokolov, Vice-President of the Drone Racing Federation, Valentina Kurenkova, GR-Director of the Netology Educational Platform, Asiyat Misirova, Director for the Development of the Partner Network of the NTI 2035 University, Alexander Oganov, CEO of Uniweb, Leonid Mironenko, Head of Skillbox Partner Development, Andrey Ignatiev, Head of the Analytical Department of the Center for Global IT-Cooperation, Yuri Sinodov,Development Director of the SMI2 News Aggregator, Roman Tanchuk, Vice-Rector for Development and Digital Technologies of the Gerasimov Russian National State Institute of Cinematography and Alexander Mustakersky, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Industrial Recommendation Information Systems LLC. The discussion was moderated by Vasily Zudin, Deputy Director of the Center for Global IT-Cooperation, and Mikhail Nachevsky, Head of the Digital Transformation Department at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.

Vadim Glushchenko, Director of the Center for Global IT Cooperation, in his opening speech spoke about the Center's youth programs, the Internet Governance Forum 2023, and also presented a new study about the video game industry market - "Computer Games: Significant Aspects of Development".

"According to research, the key values of young people now are safety, family and health," said Valentina Kurenkova. And this is strikingly different from the values of the previous generation at the same age, which emphasizes the need to find a different approach to young people and their education. A new approach to staff training is possible only with the joint work of the state, business and the NPO sector, which are currently conducting separate projects to train and improve the professional skills of young people.

However, with all the variety of courses, higher educational institutions and EdTech cannot be competitors, Leonid Mironenko believes. "Online courses will in no way be able to replace classical higher education, since the higher educational institutiony provides a very serious academic base, which online platforms will never be able to give because of the different goals of these two types of education," he said. Mironenko also noted that one of the tasks of all commercial structures is the development of employee competencies, since the effectiveness of the organization directly depends on the effectiveness of employees. And since the world is changing rapidly, the issues related to the development of employees are becoming more acute. At the same time, there is a trend towards short-term training in narrowly focused competencies.

Asiyat Misirova also believes that a comprehensive higher education will in no way replace the acquisition of knowledge through online courses. However, in her opinion, after studying at the university, it is necessary to continue to develop professionally. "While getting an education at a university, a certain picture of the world is formed, which is subsequently overlaid with new knowledge every time we acquire new competencies," she said. At the same time, attention should be paid not only to the training of students, but also to the professional development of teachers themselves, due to the fact that the requirements and demand of the labor market in many specialties change regularly.

"Today there is a huge gap between the labor market and educational institutions," Alexander Oganov notes specifically. In particular, due to the fact that they do not hear each other, and education in some ways does not meet the demand of the market. He also said that currently there is an opportunity to build a career trajectory for a student in advance, if he knows who he wants to be in the future, based on the career paths of successful people holding the same or similar position. "We advise a young specialist what to do in order to reach approximately the same peaks," he concluded.

In his speech, Yuri Sinodov gave a positive forecast for the development of the IT specialists market. "There will be no significant problems for IT specialists and media professionals in the labor market in Russia: specialists will always be needed here who determine what the company eventually produces and bring the product to implementation. The deglobalization process will also help to increase the demand for specialists, during which both the Russian market and some foreign ones stop trusting products created in the countries of the "golden billion", especially the USA, which increases the demand for specialists involved in import substitution and the development of alternative cultural and IT projects."

During the discussion, the speakers also separately touched upon the issue of ethics of artificial intelligence, discussed resources and opportunities for the development of additional competencies among the younger generation and agreed on the absence of a threat from neural networks to existing professions. Neural networks can facilitate the conduct of this or that work, but competent specialists will always be in demand.