Work force - ability to work, i.e. a set of properties, characteristics of a person (including the presence of certain physical and spiritual abilities, skills, abilities, etc.) necessary for him to carry out any work activity, and used by him in the course of his work activity.

Sometimes labor force means workers, both real and potential, i.e. practically the same labor resources. Often this concept is used in a narrow sense - as total number workers, more often in some branch of the national economy.

Labor force is the ability to work, the totality of physical and intellectual abilities that a person has and which he uses to produce the goods of life. Labor power can function only in a system of certain production relations and is the main productive force of society, the determining element of the productive forces.

By influencing the substance of nature in the process of work, modifying and subjugating it, a person, in turn, improves labor skills, acquires production experience, and 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.

The socio-economic conditions for the use of labor are directly dependent on the method of connecting labor with the means of production. In market conditions, labor acts as a commodity. Like any other product, labor power in a market environment has value and use value. The cost of a specific product, labor, is determined by the cost of the means of subsistence necessary for the employee to carry out normal work activities and support his family. Along with satisfying the needs for food, clothing, and housing, the cost of labor includes a spiritual element (the cultural needs of workers, costs of education, and vocational training). The historical features of its formation have a great influence on the size and structure of the cost of labor in various countries. The cost of labor varies depending on the level of political and economic development of the country, natural and climatic conditions, national traditions and the organization of hired workers.

Scientific and technological progress has a contradictory impact on the dynamics of labor costs . On the one hand, the enormous development of the productive forces and the growth of social labor productivity lead to a reduction in the cost of subsistence consumed by workers and, consequently, contribute to a reduction in the cost of the specific commodity labor force. On the other hand, there are factors that contribute to increased labor costs. Thus, the intensification of 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, qualitative changes in the material and technical base (automation of production, introduction of cybernetic and computing devices, chemicalization of production, etc.) led to shifts in the professional and qualification composition of the workforce in the direction of expanding the number of professions, including in which mental labor predominates, and also predetermined an increase in the proportion of highly and semi-skilled workers. This also requires additional costs to improve the educational level of workers, vocational training and retraining of personnel, which increases the cost of labor for both the entrepreneur and the employee himself.

The use value of labor power consists of the worker’s ability to create surplus value for society in the production process. The economic interest of society as a buyer of labor power is realized in the fact that in the process of labor activity the value created by labor power turns out to be greater than the cost of labor power itself.

Formation of the workforce, that is, the formation of a person’s ability to work - this is the preparation of a worker for work, which begins in preschool institutions and secondary schools, where the process of forming the personal characteristics of a working person begins, his individual awareness of himself as a future subject of social and labor relations, and continues in the professional education system, in the workplace, in advanced training institutes, on internships and in other educational formations, where the necessary professional knowledge and skills are constantly being developed. The education system, as an institution of spiritual production and intellectual development of the individual, the development of his creative potential, forms such a set of knowledge and skills of members of society that provide the opportunity for their purposeful activities in the system of social division of labor. This is the role of the education system as an institution for the production of personality, which is used in the constant improvement of its qualities as a subject of social and labor relations. Therefore, education is considered as one of the basic values, without which it is impossible to form a workforce.

As can be seen from the above, the process of labor force formation largely depends on the state of the education sector and the individual’s ability to engage in educational activities throughout almost his entire life, thereby capitalizing his knowledge, skills, abilities - the labor force.

In order to perform a certain job, a person must have physical and spiritual abilities. Labor force is the totality of human physical and spiritual abilities that are used by him in the process of producing material goods.

The wealth of any society is created by the labor of people, thanks to the functioning of the labor force. But only under capitalism the ability to work becomes a commodity, an object of purchase and sale. Due to what circumstances? Let's turn to history.

The slave could not dispose of himself, since he was the property of the slave owner. This is essentially the same position as the serf peasant. He was dependent on the owner of the land - the feudal lord and did not have the right to completely control his labor force. Can a person sell something that does not belong to him? Clearly not. Anyone who wants to sell their labor must be a legally free person. But is this condition sufficient for labor power to become a commodity?

No. And that's why. A small peasant or artisan works for themselves - they produce grain, meat, clothing, shoes, etc. They do not sell labor, but the products of their labor.

In what case would a peasant or artisan begin to sell not the products of his labor, but his labor power? Only if he does not have the opportunity to work at home, using his means of production. A peasant or handicraftsman turns into a worker, a proletarian, when he is deprived of his own means of production. Labor power under these conditions can only be used if it is sold to the owner of the means of production - the capitalist.

The worker sells his labor power of his own free will, since he is the rightful owner of it. In the capitalist world there are no laws obliging workers to be hired by the manufacturer. But at the same time, the proletarian cannot help but sell his labor power, since he has no other means of subsistence.

This means that in order for labor power to become a commodity, two conditions are necessary: ​​first, the personal freedom of the proletarian; secondly, the lack of means of production for the small commodity producer, his transformation into a proletarian. This creates the need to sell labor. The transformation of labor into a commodity marks the beginning of a new historical era - the era of capitalism.

But if labor power is a commodity, then, like any commodity, it must have both value and use value. How is labor cost determined? It is known that the value of any product is determined by the amount of socially necessary labor time for its production and reproduction. But labor is not an ordinary commodity. It, as we have already said, is the totality of a person’s physical and spiritual abilities. If ordinary goods (shoes, fabric, etc.) are created in factories and factories, the production of labor power is inextricably linked with the reproduction of man - the living carrier of labor power. Both physical and spiritual abilities, without which work is impossible, are inseparable from a person. In the process of labor, a person spends his labor power, and in order to be able to work daily, he must restore his physical and spiritual abilities day after day.

By consuming various material goods necessary for life and satisfying his spiritual needs, the worker restores his labor power expended in the labor process, and thus gets the opportunity to work again. That is why we can say that the value of the commodity labor power is essentially the cost of those means of subsistence that are needed for the life of the bearer of labor power - a person, in this case a worker, who sells his ability to work to the capitalist.

What means of subsistence are necessary to maintain, restore and continuously reproduce the labor force? In other words, what is included in the cost of labor? First, the cost of the means necessary to meet the physical needs of the worker. We are talking about food, clothing, housing, etc. Secondly, the cost of the funds needed to satisfy the spiritual needs of the worker. As they say, man does not live by bread alone. Workers read newspapers, books, attend movies, sports, etc. Thirdly, the cost of worker training tools. In order to operate machines and mechanisms, a minimum of technical knowledge is required. This is why the cost of industrial training is included in the cost of labor. Fourthly, the cost of funds necessary to support the family. Capitalist production cannot continue uninterruptedly unless the ranks of the working class are constantly replenished. Therefore, the cost of labor inevitably includes the costs of maintaining a family, raising and educating children.

The volume and composition of the worker's needs are greatly influenced by the historical and national characteristics of the development of a particular country. There is a great difference between the cost of labor in England, which long time occupied a monopoly position in the capitalist world, and the cost of labor in economically backward countries where the standard of living of the people is extremely low. Differences in labor costs may also be due to climatic conditions. For example, in the north, in a harsh, cold climate, a person needs warmer clothing, more nutritious food, a better heated home, etc.

It should be remembered that human needs depend on many other conditions. These include national customs and traditions that exist in a particular country, among certain peoples.

With development human society human needs expand and change. For example, the needs of the French, English and German workers in our time are far from what they were, say, in the 18th century. The range of human needs has expanded significantly. Take, for example, such household items as transistors, radios, televisions, refrigerators, etc., which people had no idea about not only in the 18th, but also in the 19th century.

But no matter how diverse the conditions that determine necessary funds human existence, and no matter how quickly they change, nevertheless, for a certain country and for a specific period, the cost of labor is a more or less constant value.

It would be a mistake to assume that the working class always receives in wages the entire value of labor power. In life, things are much more complicated. Labor power under capitalism is a commodity, and its price is always subject to fluctuations. As a rule, capitalists buy labor at a price significantly less than the cost. We must not forget that labor is a special commodity. This product cannot be stored and waited for prices to rise. A worker who has no other means of subsistence other than the sale of labor power is often forced to agree to a price that does not cover the expenses necessary to properly satisfy his needs.

There is, however, a lower limit to the cost of labor power, this is the cost of physically necessary means of subsistence, without the consumption of which a person cannot exist and work.

Labor power, like any other commodity, has in addition to value and use value. What is it expressed in?

The use value of many goods is immediately apparent. For example, boots are needed to satisfy the need for footwear. The use value of shoes is realized in the process of wearing them. What is the consumption of labor expressed in? In labor. Labor is the process of spending labor power. But here the peculiarity of the commodity labor force is revealed. Bread, cloth, shoes and other goods disappear and are destroyed in the process of consumption, but labor in the labor process is not only preserved, but also creates new goods.

This is the peculiarity of the commodity labor force. The most important quality of this product is that in the process of consumption it creates a value greater than it is worth.

The cost of labor power, as we have found out, is equal to the cost of the worker’s means of subsistence - the cost of food, clothing, housing, etc. Let us assume that the cost of the worker’s daily subsistence can be created in 4 hours of labor. The capitalist bought labor power. Thus, he received the right to dispose of its use value. Therefore, the capitalist can force the worker to work not 4 hours, but more, for example 6, 7, 8, 10 hours. But in the first 4 hours of work, the worker has already created value equal to the value of his labor power. And for every next hour of work, value is also created. This increase, this surplus of value created by the labor of the worker in excess of the value of his labor power, is surplus value. The ability to create surplus value is the use value of the commodity labor power. This is what interests the capitalist. If the labor force did not have this ability, the capitalist would not buy it.

Having discovered the difference between the value of labor power and the value that is created by the labor of the worker, Marx unraveled the mystery of the emergence of surplus value, and scientifically, irrefutably proved how the capitalist class lives and enriches itself. The source of surplus value is the labor of workers, the results of which are appropriated free of charge by the capitalists.

Now it becomes clear how, under the conditions of the capitalist mode of production, the contradictions of the general formula of capital are resolved. Surplus value cannot arise without circulation, since not somewhere, but on the market, the capitalist purchases labor power, the act of purchase and sale is completed - M - C.

But, on the other hand, surplus value is created not in the process of circulation, but in the sphere of production, since the proletarian with his labor creates, in addition to the value of his labor power, surplus value. The capitalist, having sold the goods produced by the workers in his factory, realizes this surplus value and thereby receives a large amount money - D + d or D g

Now we come to the question of how surplus value is created.

labor market labor economy

The concept of labor, its role in modern society

Part of the population and factor economic development society are human resources, which are one of the types of economic resources. Human resources are identified with the labor resource, which in turn is the most important factor production. (15)

Labor resources are one of the forms of expressing the concept of “human resources”.

Labor resources are understood as the part of the population that has the necessary physical and mental abilities, professional training and qualifications to work in social production. In the Russian Federation, the labor force includes women aged 16-55 years, men aged 16-60 years, with the exception of certain categories of disabled people and persons receiving pensions on preferential terms, as well as the employed population beyond working age. The number of labor resources characterizes the potential mass of living labor that society currently has at its disposal. (12)

Due to the presence of people of disabled age in the country’s economy, the concept of “labor potential” has become widespread. This is a more capacious, independent economic category, characterizing the real resources of living labor. Labor potential is an integral characteristic of the quantity, quality and measure of the total ability to work, which determines the capabilities of an individual, various groups workers and the working population as a whole on participation in socially useful activities. Determining the labor potential indicator has practical significance, because Without it, it is impossible to balance the resources of living labor and the number of jobs. The specifics of the development of labor potential are influenced by the specifics of demographic processes in the world and in the country, because “labor potential” is a reflection of the demographic and economic problems of the modern period. (16)

There are two ways to use labor potential:

Intensive, when an increase in production volumes occurs with the same or fewer number of workers;

Extensive, when the increase in the mass of labor is carried out in the same proportion as the volume of production. This path is not economically feasible, but there are practical situations when they are objectively forced to increase the number of workers due to its cheapness, the need to solve the employment problem or the lack of certain technical means, etc.

Taken together, labor resources predetermine the labor potential of society, which, in turn, has a quantitative and qualitative aspect. The quantitative aspect of labor potential reflects its extensive component, and the qualitative aspect reflects its intensive component. (31)

In countries with developed market economies, the concept of “economically active population” (EAP) has long been established.

The economically active population is the totality of working people of working age and the unemployed (actively looking for work). This is the part of the population that provides the labor supply for the production of goods and services. (5)

The economically inactive population is the population that is not part of the labor force: pupils, students, graduate students, doctoral students full-time forms training; persons receiving different kinds pensions; busy running household, caring for children and the sick; persons who despair of finding a job and have stopped searching for it; persons who do not need to work regardless of their source of income. (17)

The totality of hired workers forms the labor force.

Labor power is usually understood as a person’s ability to work, i.e. the totality of his physical and intellectual data that can be used in the process of purposeful activity. Every person potentially has the ability to work, but it becomes a real productive force only in the process of labor. (12) “Labor force” is often understood as the total number of workers in an economy, enterprises and organizations. Those. This is only that part of the labor force that sells its labor power on the labor market. Therefore, the concept of labor cannot be identified with the economically active population. Quantitatively, it is less than EAN; in countries with developed market economies, it is 80-85% of it. The rest are entrepreneurs, bankers, farmers, and self-employed people. That is, in market economy The concept of “economically active population” is broader than the concept of “labor force”, but narrower than the concept of “labor resources”. (16)

The demand and supply of labor is determined by demographic, migration and socio-psychological factors. Distinguish the following types labor demand:

Satisfactory demand - the number of workers hired by enterprises over a certain time;

Unsatisfactory demand - the number of vacant jobs;

Forecasted demand is the demand for workers and specialists, taking into account the development prospects of the enterprise.

The demand for workers and specialists is formed by professions, specialties, skill levels and territorial labor markets.

Aggregate demand for labor includes government and private sector. The public sector generates demand for the spheres of material and non-material production. The latter includes industries social sphere(culture, healthcare, science, education, etc.) and government bodies at all levels.

The market economy and the development of scientific and technological progress increase the requirements for the quality of the workforce.

The quality of the workforce is a set of professional, educational, psychophysiological characteristics that make a person capable of performing labor functions of varying complexity.

The criteria for the quality of the workforce are: the level of education of the employee, the level of professional training, the level of motivation of the employee to improve professionalism and the quality of his own work, the ability organizational structure institutions to reveal all the qualities of the employee. (12)

An important part of social reproduction is the reproduction of the labor force - the continuous restoration and maintenance of a person’s physical and mental abilities, the constant renewal and improvement of people’s labor qualifications, ensuring the growth of their general education and professional level. In the process of reproduction of labor power, a number of important issues: natural population movement as the basis for the reproduction of the labor force, attraction of workers to production, fairly high employment of the population, distribution and redistribution of labor resources between industries, enterprises, regions. (31)

Labor power is a specific good (different from most other goods). The cost of labor is determined by working time. However, the production of labor power involves maintaining the life of a person, who for this needs a certain amount of subsistence.

The cost of labor power is the price of material and spiritual goods necessary for the reproduction of labor power, i.e. full satisfaction of the needs of the employee and his family members. (4) The lowest (minimum) limit of the cost of labor power is formed by the cost of a set of means or services, without the consumption of which a person, as a bearer of labor power, would not be able to support his life. Under these conditions, the quality of the labor force deteriorates, which in practice is manifested in a strict relationship between the professionally qualified characteristics of the employee and the cost of labor. The formation of the cost of labor is influenced by a number of factors that can contribute to both a decrease in the cost of the product “labor” and an increase in its value. These are market factors (supply and demand, competition or monopoly).

The following main factors influence the increase in labor costs:

Increase in labor intensity (physical and mental);

Growth of material, spiritual and social needs;

Increasing complexity of the workforce (its general educational and qualification level, the need to master two or more specialties);

Deterioration environment, especially the pollution of large cities, which requires additional costs for the reproduction of a labor force of normal quality;

Gradual increase in the cost of services in the field of education, health, utilities and etc.;

Improving the quality of work.

The following factors contribute to the reduction in the cost of the “labor” product:

An increase in social productivity of labor (primarily in industries producing personal consumer goods, since this reduces the cost of the means of subsistence necessary for the reproduction of the means of subsistence necessary for the reproduction of the labor force of the hired worker and his family members);

Decrease in the quality of labor (which shows the connection between the exchange value of labor and its consumer value);

Increase in taxes on wages;

Widespread use of child and female labor, migrant labor (cheaper)

The purchase and sale of labor power appears in the form of the purchase and sale of labor, therefore the value, and therefore the price of labor power, is converted into wages. Therefore, the value of labor power, expressed in monetary form, takes the form of the price of labor power.

Thus, the labor force is the part of the labor force that sells its labor on the labor market, including employees. The transition to market relations, as well as ongoing scientific and technological progress, place demands on the quality of the workforce, and therefore on the education of everyone individual employee. Due to the presence of people of disabled age in the country’s economy, the concept of “labor potential” has become widespread. Wage-earners and actively job seeker the unemployed population together form the economically active population. The totality of employed and unemployed people in the country's economy as a whole constitutes the labor force, which covers both workers in the labor force and part of the population belonging to the economically active population. (17)

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 arose: “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 society’s gradual awareness of the growing role of man in the economic and public life(Fig. 2.1).

Rice. 2.1.

Concept "work force" in socio-economic literature and in practical life used in two meanings. Firstly, 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 carrying out work activities. Secondly, as a set of carriers of the ability to work - those people who have these abilities. We can say that labor power as the ability to work is identified with the bearers 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 calls the labor force the economically active population, i.e. those people who are already actually working or offering themselves on the labor market as potential workers.

If the production of material goods and services is considered from the perspective of the resource approach, then the obvious conclusion will be 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 uniqueness of human resources lies in the fact that they are both economic resources and people - consumers of material goods and services.

One of the forms of expression of human resources is labor resources, which includes the working population of working age and actually working teenagers and pensioners. The concept of “labor resources” was born and established in Soviet Russia and other countries former Council mutual economic assistance (CMEA), which practiced centralized planning as the main method of state influence on the economy. Under these conditions, a person acted as a passive object of external control, as a planning and accounting unit of 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 wide information content, can be used as an effective tool government regulation labor market.

The concept of “labor resources” gives a quantitative description of that part of the population that has the ability to work. But it does not take into account the differences in people's working abilities and capabilities. Therefore, it has been in scientific circulation since the early 1980s. the concept was introduced "labor potential" which is in itself 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 an economic resource. The concept of labor potential is based on the idea of ​​a person not as a passive object of external control, but as a subject with his own capabilities, needs and interests in the world of work.

Since the end of the 20th century. theory and practice of management, the 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 personal qualities of a person that influence 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 behavior in various situations.

The human factor is an economic and political term, a subject of interest to modern general theory systems, occupational 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. Activation of the human factor is a multifaceted problem, which includes complex processes of formation of moral values, problems of family, school and home education, physical health of society, preservation of cultural traditions, personnel and social policies, education, etc.

Another concept that has become widespread recently is “human capital”. It is based on the idea of ​​a person as an object of effective investments and a subject who transforms these investments into a body of knowledge and skills for the purpose of their subsequent implementation. Human capital is a stock of knowledge, skills, abilities 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, investments in human capital are understood as costs necessary to increase labor productivity in the future, as well as leading to an increase in a person’s skills and abilities and subsequently influencing an increase in the individual’s income. It is assumed that a person making such an investment sacrifices something less in currently to get something more in the future.

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

The cost to an individual of investing in education and training may include three components:

• direct costs (tuition fees, costs of purchasing textbooks, change of residence and travel, etc.);
• lost opportunities (lost earnings) during study and in connection with a likely change of profession or place of work;
• moral damage caused nervous tension in connection with obtaining an education, looking for a job, or a possible change in living environment.

The expected return on investment in human capital can be both monetary (increased income of an individual, increased profit of an enterprise, economic growth of the region) and non-monetary (obtaining satisfaction from a chosen job throughout life, expanding the circle of contacts while studying, positive information about organization, higher valuation of non-market activities and interests).

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

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

where B r is the expected excess of earnings of persons who have received an education over the earnings of persons without education in a year t; P- number of years of using the acquired knowledge; r - 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 costs: R>C.

• As a synonym for this type of resource, some authors use the concepts “resources for labor activity”, “labor resources”, “resources for labor”. See: RofeA. I., Zhukov A.L. Theoretical foundations of economics and sociology of labor. M.: MIC, 1999. P. 116; RofeA. I. Labor Economics. 3rd ed., add. and processed M.: KnoRus, 2015.
• See: Labor Economics. Social and labor relations / ed. N. A. Volgina, Yu. G. Odegova. pp. 44-47.