The main goal of the secondary vocational education system is to fulfill the staffing needs of the Russian economy. The only way that we can effectively deliver on this objective is by ensuring there is a well-coordinated and stable system in place that allows vocational schools to cooperate with businesses. This article reviews how this cooperative relationship has changed over time, from the Soviet centrally planned model to the advent of market mechanisms. The authors pay particular attention to the specific features that distinguish the Russian labor market and the nature of youth employment in Russia, and they also examine the particular means and models whereby the vocational education system is able to "read signals" that emanate from the labor market and to quickly respond to these signals.The article's findings may be of interest to administrators who work in the secondary vocational education system, experts as well as to anyone who takes an interest in the relationship between the secondary vocational educational system and the labor market. [Translated by Kenneth Cargill.]