The article is devoted to a sociological analysis of the history of the development of labor relations. The purpose of the article is to examine and describe the transformations of labor activity during the 20th century. We describe in detail the transformation a «typical» labor relation, characterized by lifetime employment, social guarantees, and social protection for wage workers in the middle of the 20th century. After that, we describe the gradual shift to "atypical" and to precarious labor activity. Finally, we describe the prerequisites for "atypical" labor activity at the present stage of development of the capitalist economy. The conclusion is made that in the post-industrial era "typical" employment becomes rarer every year. Atypical employment, precarious labor activity, becomes more widespread every year. "Typical" employment with all the social guarantees and social protection only emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. But at the same time, "typical" employment was not a mass practice, rather an exception to the rule. It is possible to compare "typical" and "atypical" employment only in those countries in which "typical" employment was massively spread and in which it was a social norm.