The basis of human life is focused professional activity. It is at work that a person spends most of his time. Someone does this for their own satisfaction and pleasure, others for the material support of themselves and their families.
Theory: basic terms, definition of labor
Work - the direction of human activity, the signs of which are expediency and creation.
The category of labor - the totality of a number of phenomena or concepts that are characterized by the same features. The categories of labor include the content, nature and forms of labor.
The content of labor activity is the totality of the individual elements of labor, the identification of which depends on the professional affiliation of the work, their structure, level of complexity and the presence of a certain sequence of performance.
The nature of labor is the qualitative characteristics of labor activity that combine several types of labor in a group according to certain criteria.
Forms of labor activity - a set of types of labor operations, the implementation of which requires energy costs, the use of mechanized or automated equipment and machine tools.
Classification of labor activity: types and characteristics of labor
In fact, there are many classifications of labor. This is because labor is a complex multi-aspect socio-economic phenomenon.
Depending on the content, labor is divided into:
- Mental and physical. There is no clear distinction between these two types of labor. Therefore, distinguish mainly mental and predominantly physical labor. Mental labor involves the flow of active thought processes, and physical labor involves the expenditure of human muscle energy.
- Simple labor and difficult. Simple labor activity, as a rule, does not require any professional qualifications, certain skills and abilities from employees. Difficult work is only possible for people who have a specific profession.
- Functional and professional. In the implementation of functional labor, emphasis is placed on the fulfillment of a certain number of functions characteristic of the corresponding profession. Professional labor acts as a subspecies of functional labor, creating a professional structure depending on the set of labor functions. Example: a teacher is a functional type of work, a drawing teacher is a professional type of work.
- Reproductive and creative work. Reproductive work implies the performance of a standard set of functions, and its result is predetermined in advance. Not all employees show abilities for creative labor activity, it depends on the level of education of the worker, his qualifications, creativity of thinking and a penchant for innovation. This is due to the unknown result of creative work.
Depending on the nature of the following types of labor:
- Concrete and abstract work. Concrete labor is the labor of a single worker who transforms an object of nature in order to give it utility and create consumer value. It allows you to determine labor productivity at the enterprise level, to compare indicators of labor productivity of individual industries and areas of activity. Abstract labor is a commensurate concrete labor, where the qualitative diversity of the multitude of functional types of labor activity recedes into the background. Creates the value of marketable products.
- Independent work and collective. Types of independent labor include absolutely all types of labor activities carried out by a particular person-worker or a particular enterprise. Collective labor - the work of a group of workers, personnel of the enterprise, its individual department.
- Private and public labor. Social labor always consists of private labor, since the latter is characterized by a social character.
- Mercenary and self-employed types of labor. Hired labor is carried out on the basis of a conclusion between an employer and an employee of an employment contract or contract. Self-employed labor implies the independent creation of an enterprise and the organization of the production process, when the owner of the production provides himself with a workplace.
Depending on the results of work, it happens:
- Living and past work. Living work - the work of man, which he carries out at a given time. The results of past labor activities are reflected in the objects and means of labor, which were previously created by other workers and are products of industrial purpose.
- Productive labor and unproductive. The main difference is the form of the created good. Based on the results of productive labor activities, natural-material benefits are created, and based on the results of unproductive labor, benefits of a social and spiritual orientation that are valuable and useful to the public.
Depending on the means of labor used in labor activity, they allocate:
- Manual labor. It is carried out manually. Allowed the use of simple hand tools.
- Mechanized labor. For the implementation of this type of labor, a prerequisite is the operation of mechanized implements. Moreover, the energy spent by the employee is distributed on the tool of labor activity and changes in the subject.
- Machine labor. The subject is transformed through the operation of machinery controlled by the employee. On the shoulders of the latter rests responsibility for the performance of certain functions.
- Automated labor. It involves the modification of the subject through the operation of automatic equipment. An employee is required to exercise quality control over mechanisms that perform all the necessary functions without involving the human factor.
Depending on working conditions it happens:
- Stationary and mobile labor. It includes all types of labor, which are due to the specifics of the technological process and the varieties of the manufactured goods.
- Light, medium and hard work. It depends on the level of physical activity that an employee receives in the performance of certain functions.
- Free labor and regulated. It depends on the specific conditions of work and the style of enterprise management.
Depending on the methods used to attract people, it stands out:
- Work on foreign economic coercion. A characteristic feature is the lack of desire to work in humans. An employee carries out forced labor without any motivation (material, spiritual, etc.).
- Labor force economic coercion. A person works in order to have means of subsistence and maintenance of himself and his family. All forced workers are engaged in forced labor.
- Work of one's own free will. A characteristic feature is the presence of the employee’s desire to realize his labor potential. The results of such work are for the benefit of society.
The main forms of labor
- Forms of work associated with the involvement of muscle activity. They require significant energy costs for the employee, since physical activity is the basis, and the execution of any processes in automatic mode is impossible. This form includes manual labor.
- Mechanized forms of labor. They are characterized by less physical activity and more complicated action programs, which is associated with the use of mechanized equipment.
- Partially automated forms of labor. In the production process, the key role is played by automatic equipment and machine tools, and a person is needed only to service the used machines. Characteristic features: monotony, accelerated pace of labor activity, suppression of creative initiatives.
- Forms of labor requiring process control in production. It includes all types of labor, in which the employee acts as a necessary operational link, and his main task is the management of the production process and control over automated equipment.
- Intellectual forms of labor. They are characterized by the need to activate the mental activity of the brain, memory, attention, etc., as well as minimal physical exertion. This form includes managerial, creative and scientific work, as well as the labor activity of medical workers.
- Conveyor forms of labor. A characteristic feature: the division of the production process into separate operations, which should be performed in a certain sequence. Details for each employee are fed automatically through the operation of a conveyor belt.
Features of mental work
Mental labor is an activity that requires the reception and processing of information data, the implementation of which is due to the activation of the thought process. Mental labor activity is characterized by a strong tension of the central nervous system. Also, cases are not excluded when physical activity is necessary for the successful implementation of mental work.
Mental workers. Who are they?
Mental workers include managers, cameramen, workers in the creative professions, medical workers, pupils and students.
The category of "operators" includes people whose labor activity is associated with the management of machines, equipment, and control over the flow of technological processes.
Managerial work is performed by heads of organizations, enterprises, teachers. Feature: minimum amount of time for processing information.
Creative professions include artists, artists, writers, composers, designers. Creative labor is the most difficult kind of mental labor.
Medical personnel are also considered intellectual, but only those specialties that involve constant contact with people - patients, and the performance of work requires increased responsibility, where the decision needs to be made as soon as possible, there is a shortage of time factor.
The scientific work of students in schools and universities requires the activation of memory, attention and perception.
Physical labor
Physical labor is carried out due to certain physical activities. A characteristic feature is the interaction of the human worker with the means of labor. During physical labor activity, a person is a part of the technological process and an executor of certain functions in the labor process.
Mental and physical labor: physiological differences
Mental and physical labor activities are interconnected and interdependent. Any mental work requires certain energy costs, just as physical work is impossible without the activation of the information component. For example, all types of manual labor require a person to activate both mental processes and physical activity. The difference lies in the fact that in physical labor, energy consumption dominates, while in intellectual activity, brain function dominates.
Mental activity drives a greater number of nerve elements than physical, because mental work is complex, skilled, extensive and multifaceted.
Fatigue is more tangible from physical activity than from mental labor. In addition, with the onset of fatigue, physical work can be stopped, but mental activity cannot be stopped.
Physical profession
Today, physical labor is more in demand, and it is much easier for skilled workers to find jobs than for “intellectuals”. Shortage of workers leads to relatively high rates for the performance of work requiring physical effort. In addition, if heavy physical work is performed in conditions unfavorable for human health, an increased payment is provided for at the legislative level.
The following are involved in light physical labor: production workers managing the automated process, maintenance personnel, seamstresses, agronomists, veterinarians, nurses, orderlies, sellers of industrial goods, physical education instructors, trainers of sports sections, etc.
Occupations with moderate physical loads include: a woodworking and metalworking industry machine operator, a locksmith, a technician, a surgeon, a chemist, a textile worker, a driver, a food industry worker, maintenance staff in the public utilities and catering sectors, and a seller of manufactured goods , railwayman, lift operator.
Occupations with heavy physical exertion include: builder, almost all types of agricultural labor, machine operator, surface miner, oil, gas, pulp and paper, woodworking industry, metallurgy, foundry worker, etc.
Occupations with increased severity of physical labor include: an underground miner, a steelmaker, a feller of wood, a wood splitter, a bricklayer, a concrete worker, a digger, a loader of non-mechanized labor, and a worker in the production of building materials (non-mechanized labor).
Labor functions
Labor performs the following functions:
- participates in the reproduction of goods (is one of the production factors) aimed at satisfying human needs;
- forms public wealth;
- contributes to the development of society;
- determines the development of scientific and technological progress and culture;
- participates in the formation of man;
- acts as a way of self-realization and self-expression of the individual.
The role of labor in human life
“Labor made a man out of a monkey” is a familiar phrase, isn't it? It is in this phrase that deep meaning is hidden, which reflects the greatest role of labor in the life of each of us.
Labor activity allows a person to become a personality, and personality - to be realized. Labor is the guarantor of development, the acquisition of new knowledge, skills and experience.
What happens next? A person improves himself, acquires knowledge, experience, relying on which he creates new goods, services, cultural values, provoking scientific and technological progress, causing new needs and completely satisfying them.