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What is labor force definition. Work force. What is labor force

WORK FORCE

strength, ability to work, the totality of physical and intellectual abilities that a person has and that are used by him to produce the benefits of life. R. s. can function only in a system of certain production relations and is the main productive force society, the defining element of the productive forces. “The first productive force of all mankind,” Lenin emphasized, “is the worker, the laborer” (Polnoye soch. Soch., 5th ed., Vol. 38, p. 359).

Inactive in the process labor activity on the substance of nature, modifying and subordinating it to himself, a person, in turn, improves work skills, acquires production experience, accumulates theoretical and technical knowledge. The level of development of the means of labor has a decisive influence on the nature and scope of labor functions. Socio-economic conditions for the use of R. with. are directly dependent on the method of combining labor power with the means of production. "The special character and method in which this combination is carried out," K. Marx pointed out, "distinguishes various economic epochs of the social system" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., Vol. 24, p. 43- 44). Under the conditions of slaveholding and feudal modes of production, the ownership (complete and incomplete) of the ruling classes in the working class. was a prerequisite for exploitation based on non-economic methods of forced labor. Under capitalism R. s. acts as a commodity. R. s. becomes a commodity in the presence of certain socio-economic conditions. First, the carrier of R. of page. must be a legally independent person and be able to freely dispose of his R. with. Secondly, the owner of R. s. must be deprived of the means of production, that is, must not have the opportunity for independent management of the economy. R.'s transformation with. into a commodity was a natural result of the development of small-scale commodity production. Based on the operation of the law of value (see the law of value), there was a process of differentiation of commodity producers. An important role in the preparation of the conditions for capitalist production, in the separation of direct producers from the means of production was played by such non-economic and economic factors as the expropriation of land, cruel laws against the expropriated, the colonial system, government loans, taxes, protectionism, etc.

Like any other product, R. with. under capitalism it has value and use value. The cost of specific goods R. with. is determined by the cost of the means of subsistence necessary for the worker to carry out normal work activities and to support his family. Along with the satisfaction of the needs for food, clothing, housing, the cost of the R. s. includes a spiritual element (cultural needs of workers, education costs, vocational training). Great influence on the size and structure of the cost of R. with. in different countries show the historical features of its formation. R.'s cost with. varies with level economic development country, climatic conditions, revolutionary traditions and organization of the working class.

Contradictory impact on the dynamics of the cost of R. s. is rendered by the modern scientific and technological revolution. On the one hand, the gigantic development of the productive forces and the growth of social productivity of labor lead to a reduction in the cost of the means of subsistence consumed by the workers, and, consequently, contribute to a decrease in the value of a specific commodity of the labor force. On the other hand, there are factors that contribute to an increase in the cost of R. with. So, intensification production processes requires additional costs associated with compensation for the increased expenditure of physical and nervous energy.

The transformation of science into a direct productive force, and qualitative changes in the material and technical base (automation of production, the introduction of cybernetic and calculating devices, the chemicalization of production, etc.) have caused shifts in the professional and qualification composition of industrial workers. in the direction of expanding the number of professions in which mental work predominates, and also predetermined an increase specific gravity workers of high and medium qualifications. It also requires additional expenditures on raising the educational level of the working class, vocational training and retraining of personnel.

In a capitalist society, the value of the R. of s. takes a transformed form wages... The capitalist mode of production is characterized by a tendency for wages to lag behind the value of wages. (see Art. Subsistence minimum). Under the conditions of state-monopoly capitalism, the effect of this tendency is intensified under the influence of the policy of prices, taxation, and inflation.

R.'s use value with. consists in the ability of the worker to create surplus value for the capitalist in the production process. The economic interest of the capitalist as a buyer of R. s. realized in the fact that in the process of labor activity, the value created by the cost of ownership turns out to be greater than the value of the cost of ownership itself. Modern capitalism is characterized by the intensification of the exploitation of the wage-earning sector.

In a socialist society, the union of R. with. with the means of production is carried out under conditions of social ownership of the means of production (see Socialist property), on the basis of the planned organization of the production process. By its economic content, by the nature of its inclusion in the system social production R. s. under socialism it is not a commodity. At the same time, under socialism, the form of hiring labor force is retained. The acquisition of the benefits of life necessary to meet the growing needs of members of socialist society and to ensure the all-round development of the individual is mediated by monetary payments and remuneration in accordance with the quantity and quality of labor expended by the worker (with the exception of a part of social consumption funds). The preservation of the form of hiring labor is conditioned by the presence of a certain economic independence of state and cooperative enterprises, the need to control the measure of labor and the measure of consumption of workers of different qualifications, and the preservation of commodity-money relations in the socialist economy. Socialist society in a planned manner takes into account the value of the benefits of life in the reproduction of the labor force. The magnitude of the value of these vital goods serves as a factor in the formation of the minimum wage under socialism.

Under the conditions of a developed socialist society, under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution, progressive changes are taking place in the vocational training and qualifications of industrial workers, the cultural and technical level of the working people is growing, labor is increasingly acquiring a creative character, and the differences between workers in physical and mental labor are erased.

Lit .: K. Marks, Capital, vol. 1, ch. 4, 5, 17-24, K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., V. 23; Lenin V.I., Speech at the 1st All-Russian Congress on Extracurricular Education, Complete collection of works, 5th ed., Vol. 38; its the same. Economics and Politics in the Era of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, ibid., Vol. 39; The modern working class of the capitalist countries. (Changes in structure), M., 1965; Gauzner N. D., Scientific and technical progress and the working class of the USA, M., 1968; Social problems of the modern scientific and technical revolution, M., 1969; Socio-economic problems of the use of labor, M., 1973.

A. A. Khandruev.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB. 2012

See also the interpretation, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is LABOR FORCE in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

  • WORK FORCE in the Dictionary of Economic Terms Vasiliev:
    - the total number of citizens of the country of working age who have a job, and citizens who cannot find a job for themselves ...
  • WORK FORCE
    ..1) in the statistics of most countries, the economically active population includes employed and unemployed; .. 2) a person's ability to work, that is, the totality of his ...
  • WORK FORCE in the Thesaurus of Russian Business Vocabulary:
    Syn: workers, ...
  • WORK FORCE in the Thesaurus of the Russian language:
    Syn: workers, ...
  • WORK FORCE in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language:
    Syn: workers, ...
  • WORK FORCE in the Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
    , .. 1) in the statistics of most countries, the economically active population includes employed and unemployed; .. 2) a person's ability to work, that is, the totality of his ...
  • FORCE in the Handbook of Miracles, Unusual Phenomena, UFOs and more:
    physical quantity, which is a measure of the impact on a body from the outside or from the inside. In physics, mechanical force, force of sound, inertia, gravity, ...
  • POWER in the Quote Wiki:
    Data: 2007-12-26 Time: 14:35:20 * Endurance is more noble than strength. (John Ruskin) * Power is in motion ...
  • WORKING in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons:
    PART - a part of a throwing weapon that makes a blow, thrust and ...
  • FORCE in the Thieves Jargon Dictionary:
    - superiority, ...
  • FORCE in Miller's dream book, dream book and interpretation of dreams:
    To dream that someone is using force against you means that you will be defeated by your opponents. If you use force ...
  • FORCE
    GROWTH - the relative increase in the accrued amount in an infinitely small interval ...
  • FORCE in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
    INSURRABLE - see INSURANCE POWER ...
  • WORKING in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
    POWER - 1) in Marxist political economy: a person's ability to work, his labor opportunities. In modern economic science, it is more often used ...
  • WORKING in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
    WEEK - the norm of working hours per calendar week. In accordance with Art. 46 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a five-day ...
  • WORKING in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
    MAP - see OPERATING MAP ...
  • FORCE in the Brief Church Slavonic Dictionary:
    - power, ...
  • FORCE in the Biblical Encyclopedia of Nicephorus:
    (Acts 15:40; abbreviated word Siluan 2 Cor. 1:19) - one of the 70 apostles, called in the book. Acts to the rulers among the brothers (15:22) ...
  • FORCE in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (Silos) (1st century) an apostle from the 70s, companion and companion of the Apostle Paul (Acts of the Apostles 15:22, 40-41; 16: 19-29), bishop in Corinth. Memory …
  • FORCE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
    inertia (in mechanics) - equal to and directly opposite to the lost force The lost force is the geometric difference between the given force applied ...
  • FORCE in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  • FORCE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (in mechanics), the measure of action on a given material body from other bodies or physical fields. It causes a change in the speed of the body (see ...
  • FORCE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    , -y, f. 1. A quantity that is a measure of the mechanical interaction of bodies, causing their acceleration or deformation; characteristic of the intensity of physical processes (special). ...
  • FORCE
    FORCE OF GRAVITY, force P, acting on any material point located near the earth's surface, and defined as geom. the amount of force ...
  • FORCE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    CURRENT FORCE, equal to electric. charge passing through the cross-section of the conductor in 1 ...
  • FORCE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    FORCE OF LIGHT, luminous flux spreading inside a solid angle equal to 1 steradian. The SI unit of measurement is candela ...
  • FORCE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    FORCE OF INERTIA, a vector quantity numerically equal to the product of the mass m of a material point by the modulus of its acceleration w and directed oppositely ...
  • FORCE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    THE POWER OF SOUND, the same as the intensity of the wave ...
  • FORCE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    POWER (in mechanics), mechanical measure. actions on a given material body from the side of other bodies. This action causes a change in the velocities of the points ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    WORKING MIXTURE, a mixture of combustible gas or fuel vapors with air in a ratio that ensures its combustion in the engine cylinder internal. combustion. ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    LABOR FORCE, in modern. econom. science - economically active population, includes employed and unemployed; in Marxist theory - the ability ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    "WORKING PARTY OF POLITICAL LIBERATION OF RUSSIA", populist-Socialist-Revolutionary organization, 1899-1902, Minsk; organizers - G.A. Gershuni, L.M. Klyachko. Up to 40 working circles (approx. ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    WORKING PARTY, French. workers' party; headed by J. Guesde and P. Lafargue. The decision to create it was made in 1879 (on ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    THE WORKERS 'PARTY of Great Britain, see Labor Party ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    "WORKING OPPOSITION", a group in the RCP (b), which arose in 1921 during a trade union discussion (A.G. Shlyapnikov, A.M. Kollontai, S.P. Medvedev and ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    WORKING WEEK, the statutory duration of work per calendar week. By growing up. right normal duration R.n. cannot exceed 40 ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    "WORKING THOUGHT", newspaper, organ of "economists", Oct. 1897 - Dec. 1902, 16 numbers: St. Petersburg - No. 1-2, Berlin - No. 3-11, ...
  • WORKING in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    WORKING AREA, an area of ​​the workplace, limited by viewing angles, the amplitude of human movement and the choice of a posture by him in the process of work. Dimensions of R.Z. ...
  • FORCE in Collier's Dictionary:
    physical impact, leading or tending to lead to a change in the state of rest or movement of the material body. The action of any forces on the body obeys ...

A set of physical and spiritual abilities that a person uses in his activities.

Work force(eng. Labor force) in statistics - the number of people willing to work for hire. V different countries this indicator is calculated in different ways. It usually includes the number of employees with the addition of registered unemployed. There are age and other restrictions. For example, American statistics take into account people who are at least 16 years old. There are certain methodological issues - for example, whether to include only employees in this indicator. In most cases, the “self-employed” population is included in another indicator - “economically active population”.

Sometimes the labor force is understood as employees of any enterprise, with the exception of administrative personnel.

Work force in popular literature and journalism - workers. More often, it means manual workers who perform work of low qualifications. Usually, in such cases, no distinction is made between voluntary employment and forced labor. Example: "The purpose of the occupation was the destruction of the USSR as a state and the transformation of the territory into an agrarian and raw material appendage and a source of cheap labor for Germany and its allies."

Labor force in the theory of Karl Marx

Karl Marx in his work "Capital" stated the following:

  • Under the conditions of the capitalist mode of production, labor power becomes a specific commodity. The bearer of the workforce is its owner and is legally free to dispose of it. At the same time, he does not have the means of production for independent management. To obtain a livelihood, he is forced to sell his labor.
  • The cost of labor is determined by the cost of maintaining the worker's life and the proper level of working capacity, his sufficient training, education and reproduction. These costs are highly dependent on the level of economic development of the country, natural and climatic conditions, the intensity and complexity of labor, employment of women and children. The cost of labor is manifested in the form of wages, which is additionally influenced by the situation in the economy and in the labor market. During a period of economic growth and increased employment, wages can significantly exceed the cost of labor, which allows workers to significantly improve their financial situation. During a recession, wages can fall below the cost of labor, which leads to the consumption of previously accumulated stocks and to a sharp deterioration in the situation of workers.
  • The value (utility) of labor power as a commodity is the possibility in the process of work (use by the capitalist of the purchased labor power) the creation of new value, which is usually greater than the value paid to the worker (more than the value of the labor power used). Such an excess was called by Marx surplus value... It is she who is the basis for the formation of profit.
  • Labor is not always a commodity. It may not belong to a person and can be taken without an equivalent exchange (for example, into a slave or serf). A person may not be legally free (prisoner, child). A person can work independently and then sell the results of labor, and not his own labor (artisan, artist, farmer, Self employed if they don't hire workers).

Criticism of the Marxist approach

Part economic theories do not recognize labor as an independent commodity. They usually claim to be sold directly work... They explain the formation of profit by the special properties of capital or by the payment for the scarcity of entrepreneurial talent. Indeed, at the initial stage, hourly wages prevail. employees... Then domination passes to piecework payment. Outwardly, this manifests itself as payment for every hour worked or a thing made, that is for work... Contract payments (for example, for football players) more clearly demonstrate that it is the ability to work that is being sold, and not the work itself.

Source: "Human Resources"

Labor force is the totality of a person's physical and intellectual abilities to work. In a market economy, this is a commodity, however, unlike other types of commodities, the following features are inherent in labor:

1.the product creates value, and more than it is worth (or, more precisely, what the employer estimates it);

2. no production is possible without attracting this type of product;

3.the degree (efficiency) of the use of basic and circulating assets depends on the labor force production assets, the economy of the economic structure as a whole.

The cost criterion of the labor force depends on many factors, such as the ratio of unemployment and employment, the degree of development of social partnership, region, industry affiliation of the enterprise and many others.

Evaluation of the performer's workforce is a conclusion on the employee's performance of his labor function. It is expressed in a formal and systematic assessment by the leader of his subordinates. In most cases, it is based on subjective perception, depending on the "recommendation reviews" of competing employees or "helpful" partners. As a result, the cost of highly skilled labor decreases, and then competent personnel are generally squeezed out of the labor market, being replaced by less competent and less qualified, but "convenient" workers. Especially often, the process of trampling on intellectual potential is observed in scientific field, where the most essential in the placement of personnel are kinship and inherent ties.

This state of affairs causes, at least, bewilderment, because in theory, the methodology for assessing the labor force has been developed in sufficient detail and widely.

For example, the following techniques are used:

1. ranking (a manager ranks his subordinates according to their merits);

2. point assessment (point or non-digital: bad, below average, average, above average, very good);

3. a scale (usually with five points) for the registration of personal characteristics;

4.system of strengths and weaknesses allowing the leader to note the sides of the work of his subordinates;

5. Conversations, during which the subordinate talks about his successes and failures during the surveyed period, in the process of which complex problems of the use of labor are solved and, together with its bearer, a cost estimate is made.

The purpose of the employee assessment:

Improving the quality of performance of a labor task;

Collection of information for making a decision on the level of qualifications of an employee;

Compliance with labor standards;

Creation of a basis for differentiated wages;

Collecting facts to minimize the subjectivity of the conclusion about the quality of the workforce;

Obtaining information on the need for training and retraining of personnel;

Collecting data to create an exemplary image of a future performer;

Encouraging individuals and groups in general to adhere to labor standards;

Strengthening the moral factor of production;

Providing a framework for the formation of new standards and performance targets.

Carrying out a balanced personnel policy in the organization should be based on strict records of employees.

The payroll of the organization's employees represents all those hired for permanent and temporary work related to the main and non-core activities of the organization, for a period of one day or more.

The payroll includes: actually working, being idle and absent for any reason ( business trips, annual leave absent by permission of the administration or due to illness, performing state and public duties engaged in agricultural work located in maternity leave, students of colleges and schools that are on the balance sheet of the enterprise, working part-time or weekly, homeworkers), if they retain workplace and wages.

The question rightly arises: are there people on the payroll who are absent from work without the permission of the administration and for an unjustified reason? It is obvious that while the person is labor relations, then it is included in the staff of the organization and in the payroll.

The payroll of an enterprise can include both industrial - production personnel and personnel of non-industrial divisions.

Industrial production personnel (PPP) are those employed directly in production activities and maintenance of production: employees of the main and auxiliary shops, plant management apparatus, laboratories, research and development departments, computing centers, etc.

Industrial - production personnel are divided into the following categories of labor force:

A. Workers- these are workers directly involved in the production of products, as well as the repair and maintenance of equipment, the movement of objects of labor and finished products in addition, this group includes the MNP and the organization's security;

B. Specialists- these are workers involved in the preparation and execution of documents, accounting and control, economic services (for example, extras, agents, etc.);

V. Leaders are workers employed in leadership positions of various levels (foreman, shop manager, manager, director, manager).

The personnel of non-industrial divisions includes employees employed in housing, utilities and subsidiary plots, health centers, dispensaries, educational institutions etc.

Obviously, the assessment criteria for workers in the industrial and non-industrial sectors should be different. It is also necessary to take a differentiated approach to the issue of assessing employees of various ranks of the career ladder. To this end, within the organization within the personnel structure, a personnel rating sector should be created, consisting of highly qualified specialists of various specializations: psychologists, sociologists, lawyers and other narrow specialists on issues of certain groups of workers, such as: youth, elderly, women, veterans. With such a comprehensive solution to the issue, the subjectivity of the assessment of workers will be reduced to a minimum. The same personnel group can form the basis attestation commission, whose work, in this formulation of the question, will not be of a periodic nature (once every two to four years), but permanent.

As one of functional responsibilities the rating group may determine the pre-emptive right to remain at work in accordance with Art. 34 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation when reducing the number or staff, as well as resolving the issue of employment within the organization, as obligatory measure, preceding the dismissal of an employee, as well as control over staff turnover in the organization.

Staff turnover is determined by the labor turnover index (expressed by the number of laid-off workers as a percentage of the average number of employees during the year). The net labor turnover is determined by the formula: the ratio of the difference between the total number of those dismissed during the period under review and those inevitably laid off to the average number of employees, multiplied by 100%.

There are many factors that affect employee turnover, and one of them is the assessment of the cost of labor in an organization. The female fluidity is much higher than the male one. At present, this is even caused by not even increased guarantees (women, in order to stay at work, "turn a blind eye" to a direct violation labor legislation, voluntarily refuse the benefits and guarantees provided by the state in connection with motherhood), but outright discrimination, for example, arbitrarily cuts the salary: one amount is indicated in the statement, and a smaller one is given out.

The high turnover of the workforce is the result of mismanagement of the organization and unsuccessful personnel policy. There are a number of preventive measures for staff turnover, both economic, organizational and moral:

Use of effective personnel selection procedures;

The use of analytical methods for assessing the work of employees;

Introduction of methods and techniques of a balanced personnel policy;

The widest possible use of the abilities of employees;

Improving the on-the-job training system and, above all, in production itself;

Improvement of the communication system;

Improving working conditions;

Implementation of group and individual principles of morality;

Strengthening the effect of obtaining satisfaction from work through moral and material motivation of work.

Labor is the most valuable commodity in the labor market. And until the entrepreneur realizes this, the Russian economy will be in a hole. Delaying the process of impoverishment of the labor force will inevitably lead to an irreversible result - its degradation.

Keywords:

1 -1

the ability to work, a set of physical and intellectual abilities that a person has and that are used by him in the production of life benefits. Labor power really exists in the personality of the worker and is the main productive force of society, the primary (along with land, nature) factor of wealth, the determining element of the productive forces. Labor force statistics in developed countries usually include all employed (including military personnel) and unemployed. The category "economically active population" is synonymous with the concept. In the changes taking place in the sectoral structure of the labor force in recent decades, two major trends can be traced: a sharp decline in the number of people employed in agriculture and a significant increase in them in the service sector. Evolution of the professional and qualification composition of the workforce is also noticeable. The predominant category has become predominantly intellectual workers, the so-called "white collars". The number of manual workers is decreasing both absolutely and relatively. Among the main directions state regulation labor force can be distinguished: 1) programs to stimulate employment growth and increase the number of jobs in the public sector; 2) programs for training and retraining of personnel; 3) programs to promote the recruitment of labor; 4) programs for social insurance of unemployment.

As a result of the evolutionary development of ideas about man as a subject of economic life in scientific and educational literature

a number of concepts emerged: “labor force”, “human resources”, “labor resources”, “human factor”, “labor potential”, “human capital”. Often similar in content, these concepts carry their own semantic load and reflect the gradual awareness by society of the increasing role of man in the economic and public life(fig. 2.1).

Rice. 2.1.

Concept "work force" in the socio-economic literature and in practical life it is used in two meanings. First, as a set of physical, spiritual and intellectual abilities of a person, which he can use to produce material and spiritual goods, services, i.e. for the implementation of labor activities. Secondly, as a set of carriers of the ability to work - those people who have these abilities. We can say that labor force as the ability to work is identified with the carriers of this ability - people.

It should be noted that in its second meaning, the concept of "labor force" is used quite widely and its boundaries are not sufficiently defined. Official statistics call the labor force the economically active population, i.e. those people who already actually work or offer themselves in the labor market as potential workers.

If the production of material goods and services is considered from the standpoint of a resource approach, then it will be obvious that, along with material, energy, financial resources the most important factor in economic development are human resources, those. people with their professional knowledge and skills. The peculiarity of human resources lies in the fact that they are both resources of the economy and people - consumers of material goods and services.

As one of the forms of expression of human resources are labor resources, which include the able-bodied working-age population and actually working adolescents and pensioners. The concept of "labor resources" was born and established in Soviet Russia and other countries of the former Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), which practiced central planning as the main method of state influence on the economy. Under these conditions, a person acted as a passive object of external management, as a planning and accounting unit labor resources... At the same time, as practice has shown, the concept of "labor resources" fits well into the system of modern market categories and, due to its broad information content, can be used as effective tool state regulation of the labor market.

The concept of "labor resources" provides a quantitative characteristic of that part of the population that has the ability to work. But it does not take into account the differences in working ability and capabilities of people. Therefore, in scientific circulation since the beginning of the 1980s. introduced the concept "Labor potential", which in the general view can be defined as labor resources in a qualitative dimension, i.e. taking into account gender, age, education, health status, consciousness and activity, which determine the "return" of labor resources as a resource of the economy. Concept labor potential based on the idea of ​​a person not as passive object external management, but as a subject with its own capabilities, needs and interests in the world of work.

Since the end of the XX century. theory and practice of management widespread view of man as the main, decisive factor in production and social development. The priority has become the understanding that ultimately it is not the technical level of production that determines the economic potential of enterprises, organizations, society as a whole, but human factor, embodying the ability to create, invent, produce new knowledge. It is seen as a manifestation of the whole complex personal qualities a person that affects his work activity. The human factor of production is characterized not only by indicators of the number, demographic, sectoral, professional and qualification structures of workers, but also by indicators of attitude to work, initiative, entrepreneurship, interests, needs, values, ways of behaving in various situations.

The human factor is an economic and political term, the subject of interest of modern general systems theory, labor psychology, ergonomics and sociology. Attention to it is directly related to the need for socio-economic development, which cannot be ensured using authoritarian, administrative and bureaucratic methods of management. Revitalization human factor is a multifaceted problem, which includes the complex processes of the formation of moral values, problems of the family, school and home education, the physical health of society, the preservation of cultural traditions, personnel and social policy, education, etc.

Another concept that has become widespread in recent years is "human capital". It is based on the idea of ​​a person as an object of effective investments and a subject that transforms these investments into a set of knowledge and skills with the aim of their subsequent implementation. Human capital represents a stock of knowledge, abilities, skills and motivations formed as a result of investments, reflecting the totality of physical, intellectual and psychological qualities and abilities of an individual. It includes innate ability and talent, as well as education and acquired professional qualifications... At the same time, investment in human capital is understood as the costs necessary to increase labor productivity in the future, as well as leading to an increase in the qualifications and abilities of a person and further affecting an increase in an individual's income. It is assumed that a person, making such an investment, sacrifices something less at the moment in order to get something more in the future.

The most striking example of investment in human capital is the cost of education.

The individual cost of investing in education and training can include three components:

  • direct costs (tuition fees, expenses for the purchase of textbooks, change of residence and travel, etc.);
  • missed opportunities (missed earnings) during study and in connection with a possible change of profession, place of work;
  • moral damage caused by nervous tension in connection with obtaining an education, finding a job, a possible change in the living environment.

The expected return on investment in human capital can be both in monetary form (an increase in the individual's income, an increase in the profit of an enterprise, the economic growth of a region), and in non-monetary form (getting satisfaction from a chosen job throughout life, expanding the circle of communication during studies, positive information about organizations, higher assessment of non-market activities and interests).

To effectively invest in human capital, it is necessary to measure and evaluate investment in people, which is the most problematic and controversial topic in the field of human resource management. Measuring human capital and evaluating investment in it is usually imprecise, but the measurement process itself is extremely important.

As a rule, when evaluating the effectiveness of investment in education costs in the present (C) are compared with the value of future benefits (I). The latter can be calculated by the formula

where В г - the expected excess of the earnings of persons who have received an education over the earnings of persons who do not have an education, in a year t; NS- the number of years of use of the acquired knowledge; d - market rate of return on capital (interest rate or discount rate).

Investments in education will pay off (they can be considered effective), provided that the present value of future benefits is greater than or at least equal to the costs: R> C.

  • As a synonym for this type of resource, some authors use the concepts of "resources for labor", "resources of labor", "resources for labor". See: Rofe A. I., Zhukov A.L. Theoretical basis economics and sociology of labor. M.: MIC, 1999.S. 116; Rofe A. I. Labor Economics. 3rd ed., Add. and revised M.: KnoRus, 2015.
  • See: Labor Economics. Social and labor relations / ed. N.A. Volgina, Yu. G. Odegova. S. 44-47.
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