The conditions of uncertainty and risk, as well as the serious challenges facing the modern agro-industrial complex, determine new requirements for staffing. However, it is impossible to solve these problems without the formation of a solid socio-economic base, the creation of optimal working and living conditions in rural areas. Assessment of the demographic prerequisites for the formation of human resources has made it possible to establish the growth of negative trends in the size and composition of the rural population. The annual rate of decline in the number of rural residents does not slow down, which is associated with a low birth rate and an intensive outflow of the population. Disparities in age and sex composition are also growing, which will lead to an aggravation of the crisis of labor shortage in the countryside. The analysis of social conditions has showed, that despite the improvement in living conditions, the quality of life in the countryside remains low in comparison with the urban environment and average for the region indicators. The level of average wages of rural workers in recent years has increased, but has not reached the average ones for the region and remained several times lower than other sectors of economic activity. The development of the labor potential of rural areas is possible by creating conditions for solving the problem of employment. The analysis has made it possible to develop a set of socio-economic measures aimed at developing labor potential for each age group of the population. The formulated impacts will make it possible to carry out quantitative and qualitative changes in characteristics of labor resources, both at micro and macro levels.