Аннотация: This article discusses and substantiates the genesis of the phenomenon of the precariate as a new public protoclass. The role and place of the precariate in the functioning of a modern metropolis are described. The idea that the emergence of the precariat as a social class is possible only in the conditions of market relations, in "open access" countries with a competitive labor market. At the same time, the precariate is still a new, only emerging class, but endowed with pronounced qualitative characteristics. The article provides evidence that everyone can become a part of the precariate if they lose their job or temporarily change their social status. At the same time, the ranks of the precariate are not quickly joined. This is a long-forming process that begins in the student years. With the emergence of this social class, the usual labor market changes its forms and content due to a sharp change in the global economic environment.