The article examines digital employment, a fairly new concept in the modern Russian labour market, in the context of digitalisation. Particular attention is paid to theoretical approaches to the formation of the definition and content of digital employment. An analysis of the theoretical approaches to defining and describing digital employment revealed that, at present, these approaches can be divided into three main groups. The first theoretical approach identifies digital employment with remote (distance) employment. The second approach considers digital employment to be platform employment and analyses digital labour platforms. The third approach considers digital employment to be employment in which labour activity is implemented through various information and communication technologies, and where the interaction between employer and employee is carried out using web platform tools to produce a digital result. In the work, the authors proposed a theoretical approach to digital employment from the standpoint of its widespread and current forms in the labor market: platform, remote, hybrid and freelance. The definition of 'digital employment' is formulated based on the proposed theoretical approach. This paper examines the state of digital employment in the Russian labor market. As a result of the study, digital tools were identified and measures were developed aimed at increasing the effectiveness of state regulation of digital employment in the Russian labor market.