human capital
8 synonyms and 0 antonyms for human capital, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The knowledge, skills, health and experience of the people in a workforce or a population, treated as an economic asset that produces value.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
The knowledge, skills, health and experience of the people in a workforce or a population, treated as an economic asset that produces value.
“Countries that invest in schooling build human capital that pays off for decades.”
How to Use Human Capital
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Formal; belongs to economics, policy and corporate writing rather than everyday speech.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between human capital and human resources?
Human resources normally means the department and the practical business of hiring, paying and managing staff. Human capital is an economic idea: the value that people's skills and knowledge themselves represent.
How do you increase human capital?
Chiefly through education, training, work experience and better health care, since all of these raise what a person can produce. Migration policy also shifts a country's human capital by attracting or losing skilled workers.
Is calling people capital insulting?
Some people find it dehumanising, because it borrows the language of machinery and money. Economists use it to argue the opposite case, that spending on people is an investment rather than a cost.