Various aspects of the formation and management of labor potential of agricultural sphere are analyzed. Its interrelation with the change in demographic structure of rural population is identified. The evaluation of participation of labor resources in agricultural production is presented. The need of agricultural sector in professional personnel, stimulation of their inflow into the village, factors of increasing employment and incomes of rural population are shown. The prerequisites and peculiarities of self-employment of rural population have been identified, which main form is connected with traditional management methods, which are mainly socially orientated - supply of family needs, the possibility of adaptation of people who are engaged in agriculture to market reforms, fulfillment of social and economic tasks of sustainable development of agro-industrial complex and rural territories, which are objectively necessary for creating effective management system for agricultural labor market. Alternative ways of using labor resources in the conditions of rural economy modernization aimed at creating conditions for labor productivity growth in agriculture and providing productive employment in the countryside are proposed. The study made it possible to assess positive changes in reproduction of labor potential of the village, especially young people and agricultural personnel, to conduct monitoring of value orientations of rural youth, the needs for workplaces by involving underutilized labor resources.