The category "labor force" and its associated terms evolved simultaneously with the basic postulates of the labor economy, in accordance with the dominant doctrine of production relations at a particular historical stage in the development of society.

Therefore, in order to understand the genesis of the "labor force" category, we consider it appropriate to address the key provisions of the Marxist and modern economic ("Economics") doctrines.

The common position for both doctrines is the recognition of labor as a factor of production, but the explanation of this provision is marked by marked differences.

In Marxist theory, personal (individual and cumulative labor) and material-material (means of production) factors of production are distinguished.

According to Marxist doctrine, the productive factor of collective labor, formed through the cooperation of individual labor forces, is the personal factor of production. The combined labor force of society in a combined form. The structure of the personal factor is determined by the structure and degree of concentration of production, the level of division, cooperation and specialization of labor.

It is assumed that each of the individual labor forces is developed to a socially necessary level, expressed by the professional-qualification characteristics of a particular employee, formed in accordance with the needs of social production.

From this, it follows that the individual labor force is an element of the aggregate labor force, and the individual labor of an employee is an integral part of the integrated labor of society.

Modern economic theory ("Economics") factors of production determines the material (land and other raw materials, capital) and human resources (labor and entrepreneurial activities).

In accordance with this theory, the conditions for assigning labor to human resources are interdependence and interchangeability with other types of resources (land, capital, entrepreneurial activity) and their competitive use in the market of production factors.

In modern economic theory, human resources are identified with the labor resource, and labor is defined as "a process characterized by the expenditure of time and energy of a person, aimed at transforming the resources of nature into material, social, intellectual, aesthetic and spiritual benefits. Such activities can be carried out either by coercion (administrative, economic), or by internal motivation, or both. "

Thus, modern economic theory associates labor with an employee by realizing the terms of employment for various reasons, and therefore the labor component of human resources is identified with wage labor. If the condition of hiring is not realized, human resources in the economy are represented by entrepreneurial activity, explained by modern economic theory as an independent factor of production.

This is the main difference between the theory of "Economics" and the Marxist doctrine, in which the capitalist views the labor process as the process of consumption of labor, and the entrepreneur is opposed to the wageworker from class positions, he is given the role of exploiter, but not the organizer of production.

The main value for the organizer of production of modern economic theory determines the workforce.

An analysis of the content of the labor force definitions given in the economic literature shows that its essence boils down to three main aspects: the factor of production; the aggregate of abilities (opportunities) for work; able-bodied population.

In the first of these aspects, the definitions emphasize the use of labor for the production of new goods and services, the creation of a new consumer value; in the second aspect - on the potential of the labor force, reflected by the totality of the abilities and capabilities of its carrier (owner, owner) to work; in the third aspect - on the demographic source of the origin of the labor force, the allocation in the population of the category of able-bodied, economically active population, which makes up the labor resources of the economy.

The variety of interpretations of labor power, in our opinion, testifies to the complexity of this phenomenon, the possibility of using different approaches to determining its essence. A logical consequence of this is the problematic moments inherent in individual definitions of labor.

Only one of the definitions of the labor force quoted by us reflects its commodity character. The remaining definitions do not indicate that the labor force is a kind of commodity on the labor market.