The concept of "labor" is rather vague and vague. It was introduced by academician Stanislav Strumilin in 1922. Usually, this term refers to the part of the country's population that can engage in socially useful work. The labor resources include both those who already work somewhere, and the unemployed, who could theoretically do something. The formation of labor resources is a complex and multifaceted process.
Abroad they use a more socially oriented concept - human resources. Thus, the concept of “labor resources” came to us from the Soviet past, it corresponds to the spirit of collectivism and is not very suitable for modern realities.
Who is the workforce?
The labor force includes the entire economically active population, and this is independent of age groups. It includes officially working citizens, individual entrepreneurs, self-employed, as well as citizens in military service. Therefore, when considering the structure of labor resources, the active (workers of various professions) and passive (those who are unemployed, but could work under suitable conditions) categories are distinguished. The graph shows the dynamics of the number of working-age citizens in Russia.
The size of the workforce is largely related to the norms of the current legislation. Even if a person can potentially work, but has an age that goes beyond the accepted boundaries of working age, and at the same time he is not engaged in labor activity, then he will not be considered a labor resource. In different countries, the boundaries of working age vary greatly. Thus, in some underdeveloped African countries, child labor is considered quite normal, although generally recognized as unacceptable in the world.
The replenishment of labor resources occurs at the expense of young people who reach working age, immigrants from other countries, military, dismissed from the armed forces. Quantitatively, labor resources are measured by the number of people, and not by the total amount of work that all able-bodied citizens can do per unit of time. This is due to the fact that it is impossible to quantify such a volume. Information on the availability of labor resources, in this regard, cannot be accurate.
Nevertheless, the entire able-bodied population can be sorted to some extent into categories related to the ability to perform a particular job. To do this, use indicators such as the average number of employees, the share of workers with higher and secondary specialized education, the turnover rate, the share of workers engaged in a particular type of labor activity, average work experience, etc.
Who does not belong to labor resources?
Not all people of working age will do any work. Those who will not work under existing conditions are classified as economically inactive. First of all, these are unemployed pensioners, children, adolescents. In addition to them, this category includes people with disabilities, as well as:
- Those who work for themselves (doing household work).
- Those who decide to graduate full-time and therefore do not have time to work.
- Persons who do not want to work on conviction (for example, religious) or because of the existence of an independent source of livelihood (for example, children of wealthy parents), etc.
- Desperate unemployed.
- Homeless people, beggars, alcoholics, etc.
Working and unemployed
All this is an economically active population, which can be divided into officially working and unemployed. Unemployed people do not work in official work, but they can earn money somewhere in private. In this case, they are called self-employed. They also form part of the country's labor force.
The reasons why a person cannot find a job can be different. It often happens that a person lacks education and / or qualifications to get a good job (by the standards of the country), and one where qualifications are not required may be too low paid and / or difficult. In this case, he will look for other ways to earn money. Another reason for refusing to work officially may be the difficulty of adapting to the team. In other cases, the reason may be the greater remoteness of the workplace from the person's place of residence. Sometimes it also happens that there may not be a suitable job at all.
Average annual number of employees
Assessment of labor resources is rather complicated. The average number of employees for a period of 1 year is calculated as the sum of the average number of employees for each month, divided by the number 12. The average monthly number of employees is similarly determined.
They also use the concept of the average annual number of employees, which is defined as the ratio of the amount of time worked for a year by all employees to the annual fund of working time.
Age and sex structure and labor
The amount of work that residents can do depends on the gender and age structure of the population. With high fertility, the population of younger age groups predominates, which means that the number of labor resources is relatively reduced. With a low birth rate, the proportion of people over working age is increased, which leads to the same result.
Women, as a rule, do less work than men, therefore, the predominance of female representatives in the population also reduces the country's labor potential.
When assessing labor resources, they often use the division of all citizens of the country into 3 categories: people of working age, people under working age and people over working age. Less commonly used is a two-group classification: people of working age and people older than working age. Most rarely, a detailed classification of labor resources is used, which includes the following age groups: 60 - 70 years old, 55 - 59 years old, 50 - 54 years old, 45 - 49 years old, 40 - 44, 35 - 39, 30 - 34, 25 - 29, 20 - 24 and 16 - 19 years old.
Importance of labor
Traditionally, the volume of labor resources, determined by the number of able-bodied citizens, is an important factor in the economic well-being of the country. For this reason, many countries are trying to combat the so-called effect of population aging, which consists in increasing the proportion of the population older than working age. Although fertility stimulation is a potentially negative factor that could lead to overcrowding and food problems, this grandfather method is still used by the authorities of China and other countries to increase the future share of the able-bodied population, i.e., to accelerate the reproduction of labor resources.
Another way is to change legislation aimed at increasing the retirement age, which formally gives an increase in the share of able-bodied citizens. The Russian authorities justify the need to raise the retirement age by a lack of labor resources in the country due to the high proportion of people over working age. However, against the background of significant unemployment and massive reductions, this argument does not look convincing.
Now the average age of the working-age population of Russia is 39.7 years.
From quantity to quality
Scientific and technological progress, the spread of automation and the growth of labor productivity lead to the fact that the number of workers needed for production is constantly decreasing. In Western countries, even special efforts are made to maintain and increase the number of jobs in order to ensure employment in the face of technological progress. Thus, if the world needs fewer workers, then the meaning of various manipulations aimed at increasing the number of people of working age is generally incomprehensible and is a sign of conservative thinking.
What is included in the structure of labor resources?
Not all people can do the same job equally efficiently. Labor productivity and its quality in one or another type of activity are different for everyone. Therefore, to characterize the workforce consider their structure, which includes 9 categories. The most important are: age, gender, qualifications, education, occupation.
Age plays a big role in job placement. So, at the age of 20 it will be problematic to get a job as a director, manager, deputy, etc. Such work requires the adoption of informed decisions, life experience, and often the previous movement along the career ladder. Nobody will take up senior management positions at this age. However, if we are talking about working as a loader, waiter, dishwasher, stuntman or athlete, then young people will have undoubted advantages.
Sex is also quite important. One job is easier for a woman to do, and another for a man. For example, when applying for a job as a loader or a miner, a man will be more likely to get such a position. If you get a job in a clothing store or kindergarten teacher, then the employer will give preference to a woman. In general, men have higher job opportunities, since they are not burdened with raising children, pregnancy, childbirth, and so on. Men are more emotionally stable, which gives them benefits, for example, when driving a car.
The type and level of education, the presence or absence of academic degrees also play a significant role in the selection of a candidate. For example, if a person has a technical education, then it will be easier for him to get an engineer, and if he is a scientific one, then he will be a teacher or scientist. An interview may be conducted to clarify the level of knowledge.
Another factor is the place of residence of the candidate. The closer a person lives to a place of work, the more chances are that he will be accepted. After all, it is much easier for an employer to manage an employee if he is nearby, and this also reduces the likelihood of being late.
Labor and labor market
The labor market is one of the forms of economic relations, the basis of which is the purchase and sale of labor. As for any market, the most important components of the labor market are supply and demand. The employee offers his labor, and the employer buys it. Payment is made by paying salaries, bonuses and so on.
The labor market and labor resources are an important element of the socio-economic policy of the state, and the quality of life of most citizens directly depends on their condition. The labor market is an indispensable feature of capitalism and is absent in the feudal relations that were common in the historical past.
Ways to improve labor efficiency
This economic task is in close connection with solving acute social problems. First of all, it is important to create a positive motivation for employees, which will be an incentive to do more work. Many employers now prefer to increase the workload for employees or workers, while the level of wages is quite low. As a result, there is an outflow of labor resources, including through the relocation of professional workers to other countries, where working conditions are much better. The health of workers also suffers, chronic fatigue occurs. All this reduces labor productivity.
Leisure and training
It is necessary to provide full conditions for recreation, including the free issuance of vouchers to sanatoriums and other places of recreation. Restoring the health and strength of the employee is an indispensable condition for increasing his labor resources.
Another area of growth in efficiency and labor productivity is retraining of personnel, training in new methods, programs, introduction to new technologies. In many cases, it is important that an individual approach is applied to each employee, allowing him to fully reveal his individual skills. It is important that everyone does the work that is more in line with his abilities and interests.
Disease prevention
To increase labor efficiency, measures to prevent diseases and improve the health of workers are also important. Among them are the fight against smoking, improving the ventilation system, maintaining an optimal indoor microclimate, teaching the basics of a healthy lifestyle; equipment for the bathhouse, gym, sports facilities at the place of work; A healthy menu including fruits, vegetables, cereals, green tea, tomato juice, fish, protein foods, etc.
The workplace should have a favorable visual environment, the presence of greenery, and convenience.
Conclusion
Thus, the concept of "labor resources" is rather outdated, and its use speaks of a neglect of a person as a person. It came to us from Soviet times. Abroad, they use the concept of "human resources", which implies great care for a person and his creative potential. And if the authorities use the concept of “labor resources”, then their attitude towards the population will most likely be formal and unfriendly.