Characteristics of labour:
The following are the main characteristics of labour
1. Labour is indispensable for production: Production is not possible without the help of labour. Even the richest natural resources cannot produce anything without the active support of human exertion. Labour is an active factor of production. Natural resources of a country cannot produce anything without labour exerted on them.
2. Labour is inseparable from the labourer: A labourer sells his labour and not himself. In no case can we separate human effort from him.
3. Labour is perishable: Labour unsold on a particular day goes waste. If a labourer remains unemployed even for a day due to slackness of demand, strike or lockout, his labour for that day is lost to the nation. In this sense labour is perishable. Due to this peculiarity, the bargaining power of labour is very weak and this is the reason ununited labourers are exploited by employers to accept the wages they are willing to pay. This weakness of labour is removed to some extent by unions.
4. Supply of labour changes slowly: The supply of labour for a short period can neither be contracted nor expanded to meet the decreasing or increasing demand for it. For example, if the demand for engineers goes up, it will take some five years to produce a sufficient number of trained engineers to meet the growing demand. Similarly, we cannot contract the supply of engineers if their demand falls down.
5. Supply of labour does not behave like other commodities: Ordinarily, the supply of a commodity rises, when its price rise but the supply of labour does not always rise when wages rise. For example, when wages rise beyond the standard of living of workers, they will like to enjoy more leisure and the supply of labour will be contracted even when the price of labour (i.e., wages) rises. So, supply of labour does not behave like the supply of other commodities.
6. Labour is mobile but less mobile than a capital: Labour moves from places of less demand to those of more demand. For example, thousand of labourers move from villages to metropolitan cities where their demand is more than it is in their native villages. But labour is not so mobile as capital. A favourable investment condition in a country attracts capital even from foreign countries but better employment opportunities fail to attract a good number of efficient workers from abroad due to various difficulties of language, living, habits and social differences.
7. Labour can absorb capital: If more capital is invested in human beings and they are trained well, then labour quality will improve decidedly to a considerable extent. To train a good number of people we require large capital in the shape of training institutions, laboratories, laboratory equipment, buildings etc. The efficiency of the labour force so raised will depend upon the type of training received. Thus, labour absorbs capital.
8. Labour produces surplus value: Generally, a labourer produces more than is required for his self-consumption. The total value of his product is much more than the wages paid to him. Hence labour produces surplus value. This surplus is kept by the employer.
9. Labour is means and ends both: Labour is meant because it is used as a means for producing wealth. It is an end in itself because production is carried on to satisfy human wants, i.e., the wants of human labourers.
10. Labourers have not the same power of bargaining as their employers: Labourers are at a disadvantage in bargaining with their employers because their labour cannot be stored up and has.to be sold at lower rates.
11. It is not easy to calculate the cost of labour: It is difficult to calculate the cost of bringing up children and the cost of training when they grow up.
12. Labourers differ inefficiency: The efficiency of all labourers is not the same. Hence, wages differ from man to man.
Kinds of Labour
Labour can be classified according to the nature of work and the professional, technical training required.
The following are the most important types of labour:
1. Physical and mental labour: Physical labourer requires the maximum use of muscular strength and physical energy. The labour of the farmer, the bus driver, the mason is physical, while the labour of the teacher, the engineer, the doctor and the barrister is mental. But the physical and mental labour sometimes cannot be separated from each other. There is no work which can be called purely mental or purely physical. The classification is based on the degree of the aspect used.
Physical labour is universally treated as inferior to the mental labour and is paid lower wages. Mental labour is considered to be of higher status and is accordingly paid higher wages. Mental labour is done by those engaged in white-collar jobs.
2. Skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour: The second criterion for deciding the kind of labour is the degree of skill obtained by the labourer. The labour performed by one who has obtained no training in any particular trade or line is called unskilled. He changes his occupation according to the needs of the situation. The second category is that of the workers who have received no formal training in the trade or job performed by them but who have acquired enough skill to solve various problems of the trade themselves. Their labour is called semi-skilled. Lastly, there are workers who have received general education and professional training for a particular trade so that they can solve complicated problems connected with their occupation. Their labour is called skilled.
Skilled and semi-skilled are terms which change according to time and place. The labour performed by an expert doctor, a good engineer or a great technologist is skilled but the labour of an overseer or a nurse is semi skilled.
3. Productive or unproductive labour: So long as labour is paid for, it is productive. The labour which results in the creation of some utility is called productive; the labour which fails to do so is called unproductive. For example, the labour devoted to the writing of a book is productive if the book is published, and the writer receives a royalty for it; but if the book is not published, the labour involved in writing is wasted. It is unproductive. Marshall says that all labour except that which fails to promote the desired aim towards which it is directed and which therefore does not produce any utilities is productive. The older economists regarded only that labour productive which created matter. So, they regarded labour involved in agriculture and industry as productive and all other labour as unproductive. This was the view of Adam Smith. The present economists do not hold this view.
4. Professional and administrative labour: Mental labour can be either professional or administrative. The doctors, architects, professors,, lawyers etc. who are engaged in mental work perform professional labour, whereas those who run and manage establishments and government departments are said to be performing administrative labour. Both these types are highly paid classes.
