Introduction. The article discusses the issues of reproduction of labor resources, current trends in the natural movement of the population, changes in the number of workers, the unemployed in the Sverdlovsk region and other regions of the Ural Federal District. The study analyzed the fertility and mortality rates of the population of the Sverdlovsk region from 2019 to 2023, revealed a trend of increasing population decline and demographic aging. The patterns and factors of reproduction of labor resources in the regions, the role of the state in regulating these processes have been studied. The authors have developed and proposed a methodology that includes a system of criteria and indicators for assessing the reproduction of regional labor resources, which can be used to monitor regional labor markets, employment dynamics, unemployment, and the need of organizations for workers. The results of the assessment can be used to take government measures aimed at improving employment efficiency, developing social sectors in which the formation and improvement of high-quality, productive characteristics of labor resources takes place. The development of the regional economy is determined not only by the improvement of technology, but also by how effectively social reproduction is carried out, which generally is impossible without the reproduction of the population, labor resources and the constant replenishment of the economy with the labor potential of new generations. In order to increase competitiveness, the state and other economic entities should pay attention to the effective regulation of the reproduction of the labor potential of the employed population, and provide the necessary conditions for their professional and personal development.
Materials and methods. In this article, official statistical data on the dynamics of the demographic situation, the composition and structure of the economically active population, and the dynamics of gross regional product production have been applied to study the situation in the social and labor sphere and the nature of labor reproduction in Russian regions using the example of such a typical industrial region as the Sverdlovsk Region. The methodological approach used statistical analysis methods, conducted a content analysis of information sources and literature on this issue. The provisions of economic theory, the general theory of employment and the theory of population have been taken into account to identify patterns of reproduction of labor resources, the reduction in the number of which is due to the narrowed regime of demographic reproduction, i.e. the excess of the mortality rate over the birth rate.
Results and conclusions. The provisions of the theory of factors of production have been studied, which make it possible to identify the causes of the growing shortage of highly qualified personnel in Russian regions. The article presents a methodology developed by the authors for assessing the reproduction of the region’s labor resources, consisting of criteria, indicators and their thresholds for analyzing the current situation in the social and labor sphere, on the basis of which it is possible to take measures to regulate it. It is proposed to use the vitality index, the index of labor productivity of the region, the coefficient of labor efficiency, the coefficient of labor activity of the population, the coefficient of effective employment of labor resources, as well as the integral multiplicative index of labor reproduction.
Discussion. The state and the regions should develop effective tools and methods for regulating the reproduction of labor resources to ensure a balanced labor market and provide personnel to priority sectors of the national economy. This is possible only with an effective impact on demographic reproduction and with the creation of conditions for the growth of the educational, cultural and professional level of the population. Improving the methods and tools of state regulation of labor reproduction at the regional level requires the development of a concept for the formation of a management system for labor reproduction and giving it priority in the implementation of the socio-economic development strategy of the region.