Meaning of Labor

Sharmila teaches at school. Umesh treats patients at the health post. Both receive wages for their labor. This is labor. Mukesh and Riya teach as volunteers at school, but they do not receive wages for teaching. They teach only for their hobby.

In economics, Riya and Mukesh's work is not considered labor. Labor is when a worker receives wages for physical or mental work. 

For labor to occur, the following things are necessary:

(a) Labor includes both physical and mental exertion. 

(b) Only human effort for production is considered labor. The work done by animals and machines is not considered labor. 

(c) To be labor, a person must have received wages for their exertion.

Thus, labor is the physical or mental effort made by a person to receive wages or remuneration. Production work is not possible without labor. 

Labor can be divided into the following three types:

• Productive and unproductive labor
• Skilled and unskilled labor
• Mental and physical labor

Characteristics of Labor

(a) Labor is an active factor of production: There is sugarcane to make sugar. There is a machine to crush sugarcane. But without labor, neither sugarcane nor the machine can be used, and sugar cannot be produced. In the production process, labor activates other factors of production, land and capital. Labor is an active factor of production.

(b) Labor is perishable: Pahalsingh works in a factory, but today he is on leave for sightseeing without working. His labor for today is lost. Labor not done today cannot be saved for tomorrow. The more labor is done, the more benefit there is. Labor cannot be saved for tomorrow like other things.

(c) Labor is an indispensable factor of production: The production of any goods is not possible without labor. For the production or construction of food grains, clothes, housing, whatever it may be, nothing can be produced even if all factors are available but human resources or labor are not available.

(d) Labor is related to the laborer: Kripasur works in a furniture factory. He is a laborer. When it is said that he works in a furniture factory, it means that he labors there. Without his presence, there is no labor there. Therefore, since labor cannot be separated from the laborer, labor is related to the laborer.

(e) Labor is a dynamic factor of production: Labor can be brought or taken from one place to another as needed. The laborer themselves can also change their workplace.

(f) Labor cannot provide continuous service: Laborers need food, rest, and entertainment from time to time. Therefore, laborers cannot provide continuous service like machines.

(g) The supply of labor is limited: Due to the devastating earthquake in Baisakh 2072 BS, more than 90 percent of houses and buildings in 14 districts had to be rebuilt. The demand for carpenters and masons immediately increased for the reconstruction of houses and buildings. However, even though the need for laborers increased in this short period, the supply of laborers cannot be increased all at once. Similarly, they cannot be removed immediately even if they are not needed in some places.

(h) Labor is both producer and consumer: Goods and services can be produced only through the use of labor. Farmers produce milk, ghee, and meat by raising animals. Carpenters make tables and chairs. Similarly, every person does some kind of labor. Here, the farmer also consumes the milk and ghee they produce, and the carpenter also consumes the tables and chairs they make. Therefore, labor is both producer and consumer.