The opening remarks by Maxim Kazarnovsky, Director of MIEF and founder of the MIEF.Connect platform, set the tone for the entire discussion. He stated that the labor market, built for decades on traditional attributes of success—a stable position, one's own office, a car, a mortgage, and overtime as a sign of loyalty—has encountered a new reality.
"Not long ago, something went wrong. And it wasn't COVID. Today's young people have developed a new daily routine and new values that can fundamentally change the ethics of interaction in the labor market," Kazarnovsky noted.
The empty offices of IT giants, the rise of car sharing instead of car purchases, unaffordable housing, the demand for work "by tasks" rather than "by the hour," the value of resting "when tired" rather than "on a schedule"—all of this, according to the organizers, is shaping a new ethic. At its core is not "successful success," but balance, harmony, a zest for life, personal boundaries, and a respectful attitude toward mistakes.
The central question put forward for discussion was provocative: is the education system preparing children for a future that no longer exists, and can employers ignore new demands, continuing to focus solely on skills and competencies?
Natalia Zubarevich, Professor in the Department of Economic and Social Geography at Moscow State University, suggested looking at this trend through the lens of Ronald Inglehart's theory of shifting values: fr om survival to self-realization.
"When we had an industrial society, and our education system primarily prepared people for it: get a profession and stay in it until retirement, we clung to any job out of a desire to survive. As soon as life improved, we shifted toward self-realization," she explained.
N.V. Zubarevich emphasized that the younger generation in Russia and Europe is united by a lack of interest in monotonous industrial labor. At the same time, a "tiny generation" is entering the labor market—one-third smaller than the 35+ group. This creates a situation of shortage, where power shifts fr om employer to employee.
"The labor market is ceasing to be an employer's market. Employee demand is emerging. They can choose. Plus, COVID-19 has given us remote work." Now we hear the classic phrase: a young person comes, works for a week, and then says, "This isn't for me," and leaves for another job. People have stopped holding on to their jobs," the expert stated.
However, she cautioned against excessive idealization: economic realities—rising living costs and instability—will "cool" radical expectations. And the "free self-expression" model of behavior today applies primarily to residents of large cities; in smaller towns, opportunities for "flapping one's wings" are significantly less. The state's focus on accelerated secondary vocational education, according to her, often diverges fr om reality: even after obtaining a vocational qualification, young people are moving into the service sector, which already employs two-thirds of those working in Russia.
"Industrial employment has ended on the scale we once knew. And it won't return, no matter what," N.V. Zubarevich concluded.
Philosophy of the future: against "Skillization" and for the right to make mistakes
Alexander Asmolov, member of the Russian Academy of Education and head of the Department of Personality Psychology at Moscow State University, offered an emotional, philosophical commentary, citing "successful success" as one of the main dangers in designing the future.
"The most dangerous thing is to talk about a comfort zone, about stability wh ere there is nothing close to it. We find ourselves in a situation of challenges of complexity, uncertainty, and diversity," Asmolov stated.
He identified three key risks of the modern era:
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Loss of understanding—when adults project their models of success onto children, failing to recognize their true values.
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Loss of trust—amid the atomization of society and digital alienation.
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Loss of meaning—when the pursuit of skills replaces the search for value orientations.
"I am so afraid of the wholesale 'skillification' of the entire country. If we think that the most important thing is the set of competencies we know today, we will lose." "Everything begins with an analysis of values," the academic warned.
A.G. Asmolov also touched on the topic of artificial intelligence, calling it not a threat but a "pet" whose influence depends on the user's values: "It's not the technology that's to blame, but those who use it." He concluded with the thought that became the culmination of his discovery: "Russia's death is being born in pedagogical institutes"—not as a death sentence, but as a call for renewal. The future, according to Asmolov, lies in anthropological professions, in universities that train not performers, but individuals capable of making choices in conditions of uncertainty.
Practical guidelines: the right to make mistakes and fairy tales
In the final part of the session, the speakers answered the question of what teachers, schools, and municipalities can do today, without waiting for systemic reforms.
Natalia Zubarevich called for three simple rules: see the child as an individual, don't insist on your own path, and be more forgiving of mistakes.
"They will still make mistakes. We need to be more forgiving of their mistakes. The main thing is that the mistakes aren't fatal. The right to make mistakes is a human experience, and it's very important," she concluded.
Alexander Asmolov added that the right to make mistakes is the foundation of readiness for change. He called for a return to the practice of flexible education, which emerged in the "wild 1990s," and to stop fearing the future. And as a recipe for developing the imagination necessary for living in a world of uncertainty, he proposed an unexpected tool – fairy tales:
"When Einstein was asked what children need to be happy, he replied, 'Read fairy tales.' They didn't believe him, so he replied, 'Read even more fairy tales.' Lewis Carroll wrote Alice – a model that applies the formula 'go there, I don't know wh ere, find that, I don't know what.' It's crucial for us to move toward these communication models," the academic concluded.
MIEF.EXPO-2026 is a platform for a variety of discussions, master classes, and presentations, wh ere global trends will be applied to Russian realities.
The forum doesn't provide ready-made answers, but it creates a space for honest conversation. "We choose the future by looking at those we trust," concluded Alexander Asmolov.