International business is one of the most complex and intricate forms of trade that exists today. It is affected by several factors and requires a great deal of intelligent leadership to make such business ventures successful. One of the basic factors that affect international business internally is the issue of labor. Labor is one of the basic necessities of any international business involved. The definition of labor now stretched to include both skilled and unskilled labor i.e. it includes both the skilled professionals doing managerial work as well as the field workers who do physical work.

However, international labor is quite different from labor in the local context. The method of reaction of international labor should be understood with great delicacy and their process of working should be clearly not mixed up with that of a local labor force. International labor forces are comprised of several in-built forces which one has to take great care when dealing with. Some of these include labor unions and consortiums. Laborers are no longer unprotected and at the mercy of the business owners. They have proper rights documented and protected by international laws. Businesses should recognize and act according to these laws. It should be remembered that international labor is composed of several ethnic and religious groups. Tolerance and allowance is the key to working with international labor groups. Each individual in the labor force should be given a certain level of leverage when it comes to religious ad cultural issues. However, dealing with such issues can often be tricky if the opposition is represented by daft union leaders.

International labor forces are characterized by several different minority groups within. Each minority group should be recognized with no distinction from the other groups and given access to the same privileges and rights. There can be several things related to international labor which may not surface until a situation comes up. An example can be bonus and compensation rights of the labor force. This issue may not come up until the time for the distribution of bonuses arrives. At that time, the management may face a dilemma. To avoid such circumstances, the management should understand that the international labor force is not comprised of a uni-lateral body. Instead, bonuses and performance rewards should be chalked to be effective for each separate body within the international labor force. For example, the Indians must be compensated using a bonus strategy suitable to their economy and labor perceptions and the Egyptians must be rewarded using a strategy suitable to them. Recognition of the fact that the international labor force is comprised of separate ethnic groups with different needs is essential to successful motivation of the force.

The quantity and quality of the labor force are two independent things which should be judged and used as skillfully as possible. Quantity does not necessarily mean quality. A high quantity of laborers may not be producing results that a smaller but high quality labor force may be able to achieve. Thus, managers and leaders should identify the laborers they hire and give them jobs suitable to their capacities and skills. Putting a laborer in the wrong place demoralizes their self-confidence, costs the organization time and production revenue.

Mobility of the labor force is a separate issue requiring greater research and variability. The labor force as of today is no longer prone to stay in the same position for long. The desire for change and growth and overtaken the baby boomers’ desire to stay in one organization for the entire life. Laborers are now looking forward to make a progressive career and for that they are ready to switch from one job to another. International businesses should view this as an opportunity to motivate their labor force by providing them either task-switching options or job rotation schemes on a yearly or more frequent basis. This not only provides them with an opportunity to polish heir own skills, it also saves businesses from the additional cost of hiring and training new employees in case they switch. After all, retention is a lot more financially and strategically advantageous than hiring.

Based on what I have said, I believe that you must have gained surface knowledge about international labor and its dynamics. It should always be remembered that labor is one of the basic inputs for output. The better the quality of the input, the better is the quality of the output. Thus, understanding international labor is one of the primary steps towards ensuring that they maintain quality work standards and benefit the business with quality output.