The automation of production, drastically reducing the need for labor force, not merely sharpens the problem of employment but also radically changes its structure. What are the grounds of structural unemployment in automated environment? Is the educational system capable of making up for the qualification troubles industries are experiencing, or it itself is bounded by the organization of business? Can society secure broad and effective employment in the scientronic era? What expertise and competence challenges and, hence, educational tasks emerge in this context? Finally, how the structure of employment should be optimized on the basis of social priorities? These are the main questions the paper seeks to answer.

Keywords: automation, industry, labor, employment, education.