Abstract
Soviet and subsequently Kazakhstan’s metallurgy (as a part of it) developed for a longer period within the framework of the Marxist economic doctrine of planned management (outside the capitalist formation) and therefore outside the framework of the classically understood “theory of human capital”. Despite this fact, it should be considered that the economic system where the industry originated and existed was based on the socialist principles of personnel management. Moreover, this means that there really was a human-centricity (in this system), not because of individualism, but based on the collectivistic principle, which was based on the proletarian class. However, was this system better than the capitalist "worker exploitation system" or did it have similar problematic aspects itself, based on the exploitation of both "class enemies" and Soviet citizens? This reviewing article is presented in order to answer this question.