Economic sphere. Productive forces

Labor is the process during which a person transforms actual reality in order to obtain various benefits and satisfy needs, both material and ideal. Labor as a type of human activity is a conscious manipulation and conscious influence on objects, phenomena and information about the surrounding reality.

Labor as an object of academic study

Labor is the object of study in several areas of philosophy, sociology, psychology and economics. As a type of human activity, labor has enormous value both for the individual and for society.

Distinctive feature labor process lies in its focus on results. The goal is always a product, that is, a material or ideal good necessary to satisfy the needs of an individual, a group of people or society as a whole.

During work, a person forms his attitude to reality and creates a place for himself in the real objective world. It is not surprising that this activity has a number of complex constituent features and complex characteristics. There are two sides of the labor process: objective and subjective. The objective side, in turn, consists of the subject, conditions, tasks and results of work. Also, work activity is divided into types depending on a number of different characteristics and approaches.

Parties to the process

In any type of labor activity there are two components, which are called the object of labor and its subject.

The objective side does not depend on the individual and is a social norm of the process, which includes an established and clearly limited structure and composition of activities. The object of labor refers to the standard characteristics, number and structure of operations required in a particular profession.

The subjective side of work is called its psychogram, that is, a psychological facet that largely depends on the personal qualities of a person and his attitude to the object of activity. The subject is a set of human qualities necessary for an individual to successfully carry out the labor process. Characteristics such as professional suitability, creative orientation, stress resistance, ambition and motivation constitute the subjective side of the process and are not only prerequisites for successful labor activity, but also its direct result.

Objective composition of labor

Any type of work activity is determined by a number of rules, regulations and requirements - all this is the objective composition of work. In simple words, these are answers to the questions: “What to do?”, “How?”, “From what?”, “With the help of what?”, “For what?” and a number of others.

Object and subject of labor are often perceived as synonyms, but the concept of object is much broader and includes a number of characteristics. They may vary depending on the profession and type of activity.

The objective composition of the labor process includes the following components:

• activity objectives;
• conditions;
• necessary actions;
• means and tools;
• result of the process.

Subject area of ​​the concept

Like any other academic discipline, in the process of studying and structuring work a number of problems arise. similar friends on other terms. In the process of academizing work activity, concepts such as “object” and “objective side” or “subject” and “subject area” are often confused.

The subject of labor is any material object, phenomenon, idea or information that is under the influence of human activity with the aim of transforming and turning them into good.

Some academic sources consider the term to be synonymous with "subject area", which is essentially an incorrect assumption. Just as in the case of the objective side, the subject area is a much broader concept. It covers a wide range of characteristics that represent the entire professional experience and its components, and not just the means and objects of labor.

As in the case of an object, which is a simple concept that is part of a more complex and complex one, the subject area includes an object, means, as well as the objective and emotional side of the process. At the same time, the subject of labor is the material or ideological basis of the finished product. In fact, this is what the end result is made of.

Visual example

For example, the subject of an academician’s work is existing information, which he transforms into new knowledge. New knowledge is an intangible benefit; in fact, it is an ideal product achieved. They may be perceived by other academics as existing information, in turn becoming a new subject. In this case, the result of labor activity, which later acts as an object of labor, is called raw material.

Depending on the gender professional activity, the categories that define the labor process can differ dramatically. For example, the subject of managerial work is the activity of the team as a whole and each person who is part of it.

Separation of types of work activities

The species are differentiated based on certain characteristics.

1. According to the method of attracting a person to work, types of work are divided into voluntary, forced and forced.
2. According to the content of the activity, labor is divided into simple and complex, reproductive and constructive (creative), special (set of functions) and professional, mental and physical.
3. Based on the nature of the activity, there are types such as individual and collective, private and public, hired and self-employed.
4. According to the conditions, the following types are distinguished: free and formal, light and heavy, stationary and mobile.
5. According to the use of tools and tools, labor activity can be manual, mechanized and automated.
6. Focusing on the result of labor activity, material and non-material types of labor are distinguished; they are also called production and non-production.
7. According to the time of performing the activity and obtaining the result, work can be present or past.

Almost every person is capable of different kinds labor activity - from the simple production of material products to creative self-realization in the creation of ideal goods. Each type of activity, regardless of complexity and results, is a source of self-education, social and personal experience and development.

The structure of the object of labor includes the subject, means, conditions, goals of labor, etc.

Subject of labor- a system of properties and relationships of things, phenomena, processes, which a person carrying out a given work activity must operate mentally or practically.

Purpose of labor- a result that society requires or expects from a person.

Goals of professional work

“The goal of work is a conscious image of the final result that a person strives for in the process of his purposeful activity. In other words, we can say that the goal of labor is an idea of ​​the desired future.

The desire to achieve a goal guides action and determines choice possible ways achievements, encourages the search for new actions. The goal is formed in a person’s mind as answers to the questions “What should I do?”, “What should I achieve?”, “What should I avoid?”, “What actions should I take to get the desired result?”

During work, a person’s consciousness is always filled with acts of assessing the situation, comparing the actual progress of things with the idea of ​​what should happen.”

The goals of work activity are immensely diverse; they can be reduced to six large groups: gnostic (cognitive), transformative (four groups), exploratory.

Working conditions- features of the environment in which human work takes place, their main types (manual, mechanized; machine-manual; automated and automatic; functional means of a person as a tool of labor).

Conditions of professional work

One of the most important and most multifaceted psychological characteristics of work is its conditions. The following types of working conditions are distinguished: 1) ordinary microclimatic: a) indoors - household, b) on outdoors; 2) unusual, causing psychophysiological tension: a) risk to life, b) complex emergency situations, requiring quick necessary actions, c) communication with offenders, mentally ill people and persons with various deviations and defects, d) clearly defined rhythm and tempo, e) physical exercise, f) long stay in one position (static working posture), g) night shifts, h) specific conditions (temperature, humidity, chemical hazards, vibration, noise, height, depth).

Means of labor in professional activities

“Instruments of labor are a necessary component of the labor process. The means of labor are understood as the tools with which a person acts on the object of labor. The means of labor act as a kind of continuation of the natural human organs used in the labor process. Among the tools of labor there are not only things, but also something immaterial - speech, behavior, etc.

Tools are different great variety. Despite this, they are all divided into two groups: real and immaterial.

Material tools. Material tools of labor include: hand and mechanized tools; machines (mechanisms), automatic machines, automated means; instruments, measuring devices.

Hand tools. The very name “hand tools” comes from the main organ of labor - the human hand. Hand tools have always been used in work and remain as long as a person is alive and able to work. At any level of technological progress, equipment will need to be assembled and installed by skilled hands.

They include simple hand and mechanized processing tools and fixtures. Simple hand tools are: a screwdriver, a scalpel (a surgical knife), a graver (a tool for engraving on wood or metal), a bush hammer (one of the tools of stone carvers), a trimmer (a type paint brush), file, chisel, hammer, etc.

Machine tools. Technical devices that completely or partially replace humans in terms of methods of converting materials, distributing energy or information are called machines (mechanisms).

Automated labor tools. These are means that, when set in motion, perform a certain job without human intervention, i.e. at certain stages of the labor process they completely replace a person, automatically managing the production process. A person only observes the operation of the equipment and controls its correctness and quality. TO automatic means labor include: automatic machines, semi-automatic machines, automatic lines, robotic complexes, devices for performing long-term continuous hidden processes, including technological ones, occurring at enormous speed.

Instruments and devices. This is a separate group of means of labor. They are designed to enhance human cognitive functions at work. Most they consist of devices that produce images: microscopes, binoculars, telescopes, aerial cameras (for topographic surveys of the earth's surface), X-ray machines, flaw detectors, closed-circuit television systems for video monitoring of technological processes occurring in conditions inaccessible to humans (under water, in space, in aggressive environments, etc.). There are instruments that provide information in the form of conventional signals, numbers, letters, light and sound indicators: chronometers, stopwatches, thermometers, pulse counters, various electrical measuring instruments (ammeter, voltmeter, ohmmeter, avometer, wattmeter), calipers, micrometers, etc. a separate subgroup is allocated technical means speech transmission (information, orders, commands): telephones, megaphones, emergency light scales, alarm bells, video telephones, television systems, musical instruments. IN Lately Devices for processing information have become widespread: computing machines, automatic reference installations, conversion tables, printing, reading, writing and transmitting devices.

Insubstantial (functional) tools. Intangible means are usually called functional. The fact is that these means of labor are associated with the manifestation of human functions, such as speech, gestures, and facial expressions. Their peculiarity is that you cannot touch these means of labor with your hands or see them with your eyes, which usually causes great difficulties when analyzing the profession. And their awareness is associated with the assimilation of many new psychological concepts: sensory, kinesthetic, somatic, verbal, etc.

Functional tools of labor are mentally retained ideas about patterns of labor results or a system of “sensory standards”. They can be external to consciousness and internal, entering consciousness and retained in memory.

These tools are quite diverse, due to the richness of colors inner world a person, manifested in behavior, facial expressions, gestures, speech, etc. They constitute large group, which includes: 1) internal, functional sensory organs, physiological organs of a person; 2) simple speech; 3) emotional, expressive speech; 4) business speech, written; 5) behavior in simple forms manifestations - at the level of the entire organism as a whole; 7) behavior is predominantly businesslike, impartial; 8) complex intellectual tools used to solve practical and theoretical problems.

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