While the COVID-19 global pandemic which has affected the world since 2019 also brought about key health challenges worldwide, the grand opportunity which the global pandemic may have enabled would be the opportunity to advance and as well as increase our human capital worldwide with specific reference to the health sector and using the African and Asian continent as a focus point. On human capital, this this is defined as ‚’a measure of the skills, education, capacity and attributes of labour which influence productive capacity and earning potential‚’ (Pettinger, 2017).
In another definition, human capital was defined as ‚’the collective skills, knowledge, or other intangible assets of individuals that can be used to create economic value for the individuals, their employers, or their community‚’ (Dictionary.com, 2021). On the importance of human capital, the concept may be said to be increasingly important today as seen from how it impacts on ‚’quality of employment, structural unemployment, economic growth and productivity, human capital flight and limited raw materials‚’ (Pettinger, 2017).
On quality of employment, the importance of human capital may be seen from how ‚’there is increasing divergence between low-skilled, low-paid temporary jobs and how high-skilled and creative workers have increased opportunities for self-employment or good employment contracts‚’ (Pettinger, 2017). Further, on structural unemployment, the importance of human capital can be seen from how ‚’individuals whose human capital is inappropriate for modern employers may struggle to gain employment‚’ (Pettinger, 2017).
Also, on economic growth and productivity, the importance of human capital may be seen from how ‚’long-term economic growth depends increasingly on improvements in human capital‚’ (Pettinger, 2017). On human capital flight, the importance of human capital may be seen from how ‚’globalization and greater movement of workers has enabled skilled workers to move from low-income countries to higher income countries‚’ (Pettinger, 2017).
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