A century-plus ago, when a Russian peasant left his village to become a factory worker, not knowing his family name was a common thing. The manager would take a student’s notebook, cut it in half, and write down the worker’s name, training received, practice area, term of employment, compensation, and make some other remarks. When the worker resigned, he took this ‘book’ with him so that later this or any other factory could trace back his work history. During the third industrial revolution, this was seen as an innovation – factory management came up with a handy way to store and transfer employee details.

In 2018, Russia plans to abandon employment record books in favour of electronic records showing pension accruals and length of service, tax deductions and a whole load of other information. This is another innovation that is going to affect the entire working-age population of Russia, another step towards the digital economy, and yet another sign of the much debated fourth industrial revolution. For several years now, Industry 4.0 has been discussed at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Experts from different countries look into the repercussions and challenges arising from the upcoming structural changes in economy. And human capital is one of the areas that is going to see the greatest changes. We no longer have to work that hard and do monotonous jobs as manual labour is on the way out, but at the same time, the economy now requires employees with a completely different set of skills. WEF experts believe that Russia, among other countries, has to foster government, business and education collaboration to help adapt employees to the new requirements. Today, ideal employees are seen as hyper-aware people able to make prompt decisions and act on them instantly, and, most importantly, seeking personal growth. This issue of SIBUR to Clients is dedicated to the development of human potential and its adaptation to evolving working conditions.

Industry 4.0 holds great promise for petrochemicals, and these opportunities should be identified and grasped. At SIBUR, we have made cutting-edge technologies that shape the future of our economy our top priority. Our Company is transforming and invites partners and clients to join this initiative. This issue of SIBUR to Clients is centred around people, companies and values of the future. It is about what we are about to become in the blink of an eye.

If you have any questions, suggestions and opinions (including critical comments), do not hesitate to email them to dearcustomer@sibur.ru.

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