Purpose. The problem of precarious employment, the scope of which is steadily expanding in different countries of the world, is discussed. The purpose of this paper is to determine the content of precarious employment, identity problems and approaches to their psychological study. The review actively uses interdisciplinary knowledge. Findings. Multidimensional interpretations of precarious employment are analyzed, which include not only the type of employment (non-standard), but also the conditions of employment and its subjective components. The main subject area is considered: the influence of precarious employment on the health and psychological well-being of a person. The transition from the study of precarious employment to the study of careers in conditions of precarious employment is recorded, the concepts of "career complexity", "discontinuous occupational trajectory", "employment strain" are revealed. The necessity of analyzing the social contexts of precarious employment is justified. Conclusions. The analysis of the literature made it possible to identify the directions of the evolution of ideas about precarious employment and ways of studying it. It is necessary to develop a definition and concept of precarious employment which more fully presents its psychological components. The progress in this direction will allow taking into account the interaction between manifest and latent precarity in the development of complex psychodiagnostic tools. It is concluded that it is necessary to study the psychological prerequisites and mechanisms of adaptation to unstable forms of employment. The value of the results. In Russian science, the psychology of precarious employment is clearly insufficiently studied. The review will contribute to the development of organizational psychology and labor market psychology, as well as increase the importance of psychological research on employment in Russia, especially in the context of the global threat of COVID-19, which is rapidly transforming labor relations.
Precarious employment psychology: formation of subject area, main problems and approaches to their study