Labor definition. The concept, directions, tasks and significance of the scientific organization of labor The body and product of labor is

“… Those operations to which our ancestors in the era of transition from monkey to man gradually learned to adapt their hand over many millennia, could at first only be very simple. The lowest savages, and even those in whom it is necessary to assume a return to a more bestial state with a simultaneous physical degeneration, are nevertheless far superior to those transitional beings. Before the first flint was turned into a knife with the help of a human hand, it must have been such a long period of time that, in comparison, the historical period known to us is insignificant. But the decisive step was taken, the hand became free and could now assimilate more and more new skills, and the great flexibility acquired by this was inherited and increased from generation to generation.

The hand, therefore, is not only an organ of labor, it is also a product of it. Only thanks to labor, thanks to adaptation to all new operations, thanks to the inheritance of the special development of muscles, ligaments and, over longer periods of time, also bones, and thanks to the ever new application of these inherited improvements to new, ever more complex operations - only thanks to all this the human hand reached that high level of perfection, at which it was able, as if by the power of magic, to bring pictures to life Raphael, statues Thorvaldsen, music Paganini.

But the hand was not something self-contained. She was only one member of a whole, highly complex organism. And what was good for the hand was also good for the whole body that it served, and was good in two ways.

First of all, by virtue of the law that Darwin called the law of the ratio of growth. According to this law, certain forms of individual parts of an organic being are always associated with certain forms of other parts, which, it would seem, are not in any connection with the first. So, for example, all animals without exception, which have red blood cells without a cell nucleus and in which the occipital bone is articulated with the first vertebra by two articular tubercles, also have mammary glands for feeding the young. So, in mammals, split hooves are usually associated with the presence of a complex stomach, adapted to the process of chewing. Changes in certain shapes entail changes in the shape of other parts of the body, although we cannot explain this connection. Perfectly white cats with blue eyes are always or almost always deaf. The gradual improvement of the human hand and the accompanying development and adaptation of the leg to a straight gait undoubtedly exerted, also by virtue of the law of correlation, a reverse effect on other parts of the organism. However, this kind of influence has been studied too little, and we can only state it here in general terms.

Much more important is the direct, verifiable reverse effect of arm development on the rest of the body. Our ape-like ancestors, as already mentioned, were social animals; it is quite obvious that it is impossible to deduce the origin of man, this most social of all animals, from non-social immediate ancestors. Beginning with the development of the hand, together with labor, domination over nature expanded the horizons of man with each new step forward. In objects of nature, he constantly discovered new, previously unknown properties.

On the other hand, the development of labor, of necessity, contributed to a closer cohesion of members of society, since thanks to it, cases of mutual support became more frequent, joint activities, and the awareness of the benefits of this joint activity for each individual member became clearer. In short, the emerging people came to the fact that they had a need to say something to each other. Need created its own organ: the undeveloped larynx of the monkey was slowly but steadily transformed by modulation for more and more developed modulation, and the organs of the mouth gradually learned to produce one articulate sound after another […]

First, labor, and then with it articulate speech, were the two most important stimuli, under the influence of which the monkey's brain gradually turned into a human brain, which, with all its resemblance to the monkey, far surpasses it in size and perfection.

And in parallel with the further development of the brain, there was a further development of its closest instruments - the sense organs. Just as the gradual development of speech is invariably accompanied by a corresponding improvement in the organ of hearing, in the same way the development of the brain is generally accompanied by the improvement of all the senses in their totality. An eagle sees much farther than a person, but the human eye sees much more in things than an eagle's eye. A dog has a much more subtle sense of smell than a person, but it does not distinguish even a hundredth part of those smells that for a person are certain signs of various things. And the sense of touch, which the monkey barely possesses in its roughest, rudimentary form, was developed only with the development of the human hand itself, thanks to labor.

The development of the brain and the senses subordinate to it, more and more clarifying consciousness, the ability to abstraction and to inference had a reverse effect on work and on language, giving both more and more impetus to further development. This further development from the moment of the final separation of man from the ape by no means ended, but, on the contrary, continued after that; being among different peoples and at different epochs in degree and direction different, sometimes even interrupted by local and temporary backward movements, on the whole, it walked forward with a mighty gait, having received, on the one hand, a new powerful impetus, and on the other hand, more a certain direction due to the fact that with the appearance of a ready-made person, a new element, society, appeared in addition. "

Friedrich Engels, The role of labor in the process of turning a monkey into a man / K. Marx, F. Engels, Works, Volume 20, M., "State Publishing House of Political Literature", 1961, p. 488-489 and 491.

Under the influence of labor, new functions of the hand were consolidated: the hand acquired the greatest dexterity of movements, due to the gradually improving anatomical structure, the ratio of the shoulder and forearm changed, and mobility increased in all joints, especially the hand. However, the hand developed not only as a grasping tool, but also as an organ of cognition of objective reality. Labor activity led to the fact that the actively moving hand gradually turned into a specialized organ of active touch. Feeling is a specifically human property of knowing the world. The hand is "a delicate organ of touch," wrote Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov, "and this organ sits on the hand, like on a rod, capable of not only shortening, lengthening and moving in all sorts of directions, but also feeling each such movement in a certain way."

The hand is an organ of touch, not only because the sensitivity to touch and pressure on the palm and fingertips is much greater than on other parts of the body (for example, on the back, shoulder, lower leg), but also because, being an organ formed in labor and adapted to act on objects, the hand is capable of active touch. Therefore, the hand gives us valuable knowledge about the essential properties of objects in the material world.

Thus, the human hand acquired the ability to perform a wide variety of functions that were not at all characteristic of the limbs of the human ancestor. That is why F. Engels spoke of the hand not only as an organ of labor, but also as a product of labor.

The development of the hand proceeded in conjunction with the development of the whole organism. The specialization of the hand as an organ of labor contributed to the development of bipedal locomotion.

The actions of the working hands were constantly monitored by sight. In the process of knowing the world, in the process labor activity between the organs of sight and touch, many connections are formed, as a result of which the effect of the action of the stimulus changes - it is more deeply, more adequately recognized by a person.

The functioning of the hand had a particularly great influence on the development of the brain. The hand, as a developing specialized organ, had to form a representation in the brain (see figure). This was the reason not only for the increase in brain mass, but also for the complication of its structure.

"Representation" (projection) of different parts of the body in the motor area of ​​the cortex (according to Penfield)

The emergence and development of labor led to incomparably more successful satisfaction of human needs for food, shelter, etc. However public relations people qualitatively changed their biological needs and gave rise to new, in fact human, needs. The development of objects of labor gave rise to the need for objects of labor.

Thus, labor served as the cause of the development of human society, the formation of human needs, the development of human consciousness, not only reflecting, but also transforming the world. All these phenomena in human evolution led to a radical change in the form of communication between people. The need to pass on the experience of previous generations, to teach labor actions tribesmen, to distribute individual actions between them created the need for communication. The language of instincts could not satisfy this need in any way.

Together with labor, in the process of labor, the highest forms of communication developed - through the human language.

Along with the development of consciousness and the forms of reflection of reality inherent in it, the person himself as a person changes.

Labor is the source of all wealth and the basic condition of all human life. Labor created man.

Great apes switched to upright posture under the influence of lifestyle . This was a decisive step in the transition from monkey to man.

Although today's monkeys are able to move without the help of their front paws, it cannot be said that they have mastered upright walking, because walking on two legs in modern monkeys is an extreme measure.

The hand is not only the organ of labor, but also its product. And therefore it is capable of performing an incomparably greater number of operations than the hand of a monkey.

The development of the hand is closely related to the development of the entire human body (for example, the adaptation of the leg to a straight gait). Along with the development of the hand, the influence of man on nature also expanded. The development of labor contributed to a closer cohesion of the members of society. The emerging people came to the fact that they had a desire to say something to each other. Thus, in the process of labor, language arises. Animals in their natural state do not need articulate speech. When living with man, Engels believes, animals, within their own circle of ideas, learn to understand both any language and to develop feelings peculiar only to man.

First, labor, and then articulate erch, were the two main stimuli, under the influence of which the monkey's brain turned into a human. The development of the brain was accompanied by the development of all the senses. The superiority of our sense organs over their counterparts in the animal world lies in the broad associativity that our organs possess due to the development of the brain. The development of the brain, the subordination of feelings to it, the development of the ability for abstract thinking and for inference gave stimulus to the development of labor and language. When a person was formed, a new element appeared - society. The characteristic feature of society that distinguishes it from the herd is labor.

Our ancestors led a predatory economy: after the complete depletion of the food source, the herd of monkeys left the occupied territory in search of a new source. After all the territories became occupied, stsada successfully developed, including all new types of food in their diet, which contributed to the development of the body. But all this was not yet labor - labor begins with the manufacture of tools. The most ancient tools of labor are items of hunting (weapons) and fishing. With the inclusion of meat food in the diet of primitive man, a great step in his evolution is made. The physical strength and independence of a person increases, the brain improves. The consumption of meat food has led to two new advances of decisive importance: the use of fire and the domestication of animals.

Just as a person learned to eat everything edible, he also learned to live in any climate. It has spread throughout all habitable land, it is the only animal that can do it on its own.

With the development of the hand, speech and brain, not only for each individually, but also in general, people were able to perform more complex operations and set higher goals. Labor became from generation to generation more diversified, perfect, versatile. Agriculture was added to hunting and cattle breeding, then spinning and weaving, metalworking, pottery, and shipping. Along with trade and crafts, art and science appeared; from the tribes nations and states developed. Law and politics have developed, and together with them religion.

The impact of animals on nature is unconscious. And the more people give up on animals, the more their interaction with nature is consciously ... A planned mode of action exists everywhere in the animal kingdom, but only in the embryo, most of the actions thus wounded are caused by an external stimulus. In animals, the ability for conscious, planned actions develops in accordance with development. nervous system and reaches a rather high level in mammals. But all the same, the planned actions of all animals could not impose the stamp of their will on nature.

In short, the animal uses external nature, and man makes nature serve his purposes, and this is the last significant difference between man and other animals, and man again owes this difference labor . We do not at all rule over nature, since the conqueror dominates over a foreign people - we belong to it with our blood, flesh and brain and are inside it, our dominion over it consists in the fact that, unlike all other creatures, we know how to cognize its laws and correctly apply. We will learn to take into account in advance the more distant natural consequences of our actions directed towards production.

All the methods of production that have existed until now had in mind only the achievement of the nearest, most immediate beneficial effects of labor. Further consequences were not taken into account at all. Such a psychology was answered by the initial common ownership of land, which assumed a certain surplus of land intended to extinguish the negative consequences of management. General ownership fell into decay when the surplus of land ran out. All subsequent forms of production led to the division of labor, class formation, the emergence of the dominant and the oppressed. As a result, the interest of the ruling class became the driving factor of production.

This is most fully illustrated in the capitalist mode of production in Western Europe. Since individual capitalists are engaged in production and exchange for the sake of immediate profit, then the mightiest, most immediate results can be taken into account. With the present mode of production, calculation is mainly only the first, immediate result. Private property, in its further development, turns into the absence of property among workers, while all property is more and more concentrated in the hands of non-workers.

The subject of the discipline labor economics is the study of the labor potential of society, the regularities of the functioning of the labor market, as well as methods of the most rational use of labor resources in the interests of increasing the efficiency of social production and ensuring a decent quality of life.

The subject of the discipline of labor economics is labor resources.

Topic 1. The concept of labor, its role, functions and types

Work- This is an expedient activity of man and society, aimed at preserving and adapting the sphere of living, creating material and cultural values ​​to meet their needs.

The labor process is always associated with the expenditure of physical and psychological energy, as well as resources. Labor is one of the main factors of production, along with land, natural resources, capital and entrepreneurship. Labor is the natural condition of human life. It allows a person to become a person, to produce material and spiritual goods and receive surplus value. Labor process is self-governing and externally controlled. Any labor process presupposes the presence of an object of labor, means of labor, technology and labor itself, as an activity to impart the necessary properties to the object of labor. Labor has a technological, economic and social side.

Objects of labor- this is all that labor is directed to, that undergoes changes in order to acquire useful properties and thereby satisfy human needs.

Labor tools- this is what a person uses to influence the subject of labor. These include machines, mechanisms, tools, fixtures, and other tools, as well as buildings and structures that create the necessary conditions for the effective use of these tools.

Means of production- is a set of instruments of labor and objects of labor.

Technology- this is a way of influencing the objects of labor, the procedure for using the tools of labor.

As a result of the completion of the labor process, products of labor.

The main forms of manifestation of labor are:

Human energy costs... The psychophysiological side of work, expressed in the expenditure of energy of muscles, brain, nerves and sensory organs. The expenditure of human energy is determined by the severity of labor and the level of neuropsychological tension. They form conditions such as fatigue and fatigue. Human performance and health, as well as his development, depend on the level of expenditure of human energy.

Interaction of an employee with the means of production... This is the organizational and technological aspect of work. It is determined by the level of technical equipment of labor, the degree of its mechanization and automation, the perfection of technology, the organization of working time, the qualifications of the worker, his experience, the methods and methods of labor used by him. These parameters of activity represent the requirements for special training of workers and their qualification level.

Industrial interaction of workers with each other, both horizontally (team) and vertically (boss-subordinate). It determines the organizational and economic aspect of labor activity, which depends on the level of labor cooperation, on the number of employees, etc.

The role of labor in the real development of man and society is manifested in the fact that in the labor process not only material and spiritual values ​​are created, but also the workers themselves develop, who acquire new skills, reveal their abilities, replenish and enrich their knowledge.

The creative nature of labor finds its expression in the birth of new ideas, the emergence of progressive technologies, more perfect and highly productive tools of labor, new types of products, materials, energy, which in turn lead to the development of needs.

Thus, the consequence of labor activity is, on the one hand, the saturation of the market with goods, services and cultural values, and on the other hand, the progress of production, the emergence of new needs and their subsequent satisfaction. This is economic role of labor.

The social role of labor manifests itself in the development and improvement of production, has a beneficial effect on the reproduction of the population, an increase in its material and cultural level.

This is an ideal scheme for the impact of labor on individuals and society.

Labor functions:

production of material and spiritual benefits in order to meet personal and social needs;

ensuring the safety of human life and society, preserving nature, ensuring a healthy social environment;

formation and accumulation of tangible and intangible wealth, development of factors of production, science, technology and culture;

development of the person himself, the formation of a creative personality.

Types of labor:

By the nature and content of labor:

hired and private;

individual and collective;

at will, by necessity or by duress;

physical and mental;

reproductive and creative;

by varying degrees of difficulty.

By subject and product of labor

scientific, engineering, management, production, etc .;

industrial, agricultural, transport, communication, etc.

By means and methods of work

manual (technically unarmed);

mechanized;

automated (including computerized).

By working conditions

stationary and mobile;

ground and underground;

by severity;

attractive and unattractive;

free and regulated, and according to the degree of regulation.

Topic 2. Labor potential of society

Labor potential of society- This is the total social ability to work.

Its structure includes:

labor potential of the individual

labor potential of the team, enterprise

labor potential of the industry

labor potential of the region

labor potential of the country, etc.

The qualitative aspect of TVE is characterized by:

health condition able-bodied population, and indicators of its psychophysiological development

professionally qualification level able-bodied population, i.e. level of general and vocational education, the presence of certain knowledge, practical experience and skills

social and personal characteristics.

The quantitative aspect of TVET It is expressed by the size of the able-bodied population and the resources of working time, i.e. potential fund of working time.

Labor resources- this is a part of the country's population that has the necessary physical development, health, education, culture, abilities, qualifications, professional knowledge to work in the relevant professional field.

The term " socially useful activity»Originated in the 20s of the twentieth century. in order to use it for the needs of the centralized management of the country's human resources.

A person's ability to work, i.e. the set of its properties and characteristics necessary for him to carry out any work activity and used by him in the course of this activity is called labor force.

Sometimes the labor force refers to workers, both real and potential, i.e. the same workforce, which is wrong.

Age boundaries and socio-demographic composition of the labor force are determined by the system of legislative acts of the state.

In Russia, depending on age, the entire population of the country can be divided into 3 groups:

persons under working age (from birth to 15 years inclusive);

persons of working age (from 16 to 54 (women) or 59 (men) inclusive);

persons over working age who receive an old-age pension.

Depending on the ability to work, they distinguish between able-bodied and disabled people. People may be disabled at working age (disabled people of groups 1 and 2), and able to work at disabled age (working adolescents and pensioners).

Thus, according to statistical practice, labor resources are divided into 3 groups:

working-age population, with the exception of people with disabilities and non-working people receiving pensions on preferential terms

working persons of retirement age

working adolescents under the age of 16.

According to Russian law, adolescents under 16 years of age are hired in exceptional cases, and only after they reach 15 years of age. It is also allowed, in order to prepare young people for work, the recruitment of students of general education schools, vocational and secondary technical educational institutions, upon reaching the age of 14, with the consent of one of the parents, provided that they are provided with easy work that does not harm their health, and does not interfere with the learning process.

Labor resources are reproduced under the influence of the demographic situation, which is extremely unfavorable in Russia, and is characterized by the following phenomena:

extremely low fertility

high mortality rate

natural population decline

very high level mortality among men of working age

low indicators of life expectancy of the population, and a very large difference between them for men and women

population aging

Also, the number of labor resources is influenced by work migration... This is the process of moving the able-bodied population in order to find or change jobs across the borders of certain territories with a permanent change or for a more or less long time of permanent residence, or with a regular return to it.

The high mortality rate in Russia is due to the following reasons:

alcohol abuse, use of tobacco and drugs

high crime rate

poor road safety

low level of labor protection, severe wear and tear of equipment and structures

low standard of living of the population

poor quality of medical care

unfavorable economic environment

Formation of labor resources occurs under the influence of the state, which, with the help of social policy, regulates the processes of reproduction and migration of labor resources, changes their quantitative and qualitative composition.

The main ways of forming labor resources are:

moral and material stimulation of the birth rate, protection of mothers and children, support of the institution of the family

implementation of measures to reduce mortality

regulation of the number and structure of graduates of vocational education institutions

regulation of migration flows.

The following factors influence the quality of professional training of workers:

professional selection

the state of the material and technical base of training

programs and teaching methods