THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DEPENDING ON ENTERPRISE SIZE

Abstract

This article considers how artificial intelligence technologies affect social and labor relations depending on enterprise size and assesses the regulatory gaps in the current Russian legislation. The study uses data triangulation as its methodological basis. The empirical base rests on three sources: data from the Federal Service of State Statistics and secondary data from an econometric study by HSE University (an enterprise survey, 2022-2023); a regulatory analysis of key legal documents against four operational criteria for worker protection; and a review of publications in eLIBRARY.RU and Google Scholar for 2019-2024. The results show that at enterprises using artificial intelligence staff numbers fell on average by 0.79 percentage points. The effect varies substantially by enterprise size: small enterprises recorded a drop of 1.26 percentage points, large ones a drop of 2.08 percentage points, while medium-sized enterprises showed an employment gain of 2.96 percentage points. None of the regulatory acts examined contains a specific rule on employer liability for personnel decisions taken with artificial intelligence, and the worker’s right to an explanation of an algorithmically taken decision is absent from the Russian legislation. The Platform Economy Act (in force from October 1, 2026) partly closes three of the four gaps identified. The article concludes that employment policy needs a differentiated approach that accounts for the size and sector of enterprises.