[Closed] Is the UK unproductive?

I imagine there will be a huge spike in the 2013 figures.

*goes back to GTA*

I suspect it's all those private sector chaps; when I'm at work it's full on from 7 am until 8:30 pm, with 2 20 minute breaks. Given that we are all in it together, I think you boys and girls should up your game a wee bit.

Hmm... complex issues here...

One thing that happened here (although it may have also happened elsewhere, of course) is that as demand for products and services fell, workers took pay cuts rather than lose their jobs. This has the effect of showing a fall in output per hour worked, but can be seen as better for both individuals and the economy than would be the rise in unemployment in a situation where demand fell to the same extent but output per hour held firm.

I wonder how many of those dragging those stats down are zero hour

Oh, and that bloody molgrips, messing about when he should be working. Mrs molgrips must despair! 😉

Its a bit pointless being too productive at the moment as no one's buying anything

Interesting though that the better or more experienced you get, the less productive you can appear; I can do stuff in 5 minutes that would take a new person 20 minutes, so I appear to be doing less...

Crikey, what are you doing for the other 15 minutes? Blethering?

Crikey, what are you doing for the other 15 minutes?

Shaving with his DE razor I reckon.

Yes - relatively speaking esp since the crisis (but actually not so obvious v recently)

But - not new news

Crap news if you are looking for a job - plenty of spare capacity. Firms have "hoarded" labour.

Good news if you want to borrow - given BoE guidance, the "productivity puzzle" means that UN will take time to fall and therefore interest rates will stay lower for longer

Balls!
I work in the private sector, maufacturing and it's full on day in day out you take the piss your out the door 2 x 10 min breaks, 30 mins for dinner and early finish on Fridays due to the shorter breaks 4.10pm 🙂

But working here is full on from the cleaner on the shop floor to the directors EVERYONE works their arse off no matter what level your at.

Reward for it, is a nice bonus at Christmas( - a % if you have had time off sick).

Surprised that the Japanese are worst in that list - we always hear they have a culture of working extremely hard.

I know someone who works for one of the German supermarket chains and was over there for work. Monday morning she asked what one of her colleagues been up to at the weekend - they were really taken aback as personal conversations like that were not expected during work hours.

Yep, too many company's and mangers can't differentiate between work done and hours worked.

"Companies" please!! 😉

Note that this is productivity per hour, not per day, suggesting that all those 60 hour weeks are a waste of everyone's time

Japanese can get a lot done but as said, they put in shocking hours so the actual productivity/hour is then evened out. There's (or was) quite a lot of hanging about unwilling to be first to leave in the evening - so that knocks it back down even further..

But working here is full on from the cleaner on the shop floor to the directors EVERYONE works their arse off no matter what level your at.

That doesn't mean any of you are productive, it just means that you work hard 🙂

I suspect it's all those private sector chaps; when I'm at work it's full on from 7 am until 8:30 pm, with 2 20 minute breaks. Given that we are all in it together, I think you boys and girls should up your game a wee bit.

I'm very productive, but don't work hard at all - just am good at what I do and have very rare skills.

IanMunro the bottom line proves we are doing things right and we are very productive 🙂

Too many gaps in the report to draw any kind of conclusion, is there an actual report somewhere with numbers and definitions for how the measurements ae taken on the different countries?

How are they measuring productivity per hour? Is it GBP/#hours worked in uk? In which case it could just be a pointer to the massive number of low paid jobs.

Having worked with Japanese I totally agree with the findings.

you can be hardworking but also stupid so the work means nothing because most of the work is useless.... or worse than useless and actually does harm. Worked in a Japanese org' once that fitted right into this profile.

Or you could be intelligent and lazy.... seeming to not work that hard but the work you do is efficient and of high value.

Imo ukplc falls into the latter.

TheBrick - Member
How are they measuring productivity per hour? Is it GBP/#hours worked in uk? In which case it could just be a pointer to the massive number of low paid jobs.TheBrick - Member
How are they measuring productivity per hour? Is it GBP/#hours worked in uk? In which case it could just be a pointer to the massive number of low paid jobs.

crikey - Member
I suspect it's all those private sector chaps; when I'm at work it's full on from 7 am until 8:30 pm, with 2 20 minute breaks. Given that we are all in it together, I think you boys and girls should up your game a wee bit.

..... It's difficult to compare the value of helping keep people alive and symmetrical (except in countries where you can submit an invoice for health care to an insurer) with shovelling coal or picking apples. So what these comparisons might reveal is that compared to other countries we may have larger sections of our labour force in the uk directed at providing social or cultural benefit to others - teaching children, universal healthcare, emptying the bins- as distinct from the production and trading of commodities.

Also, why focus on monetary productivity? We all know that you can work very hard and make money, but your quality of life can suffer as a result.

It's been widely suggested that [url= http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/opinion/sunday/relax-youll-be-more-productive.html ]longer hours can make you less productive[/url]. And the UK [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16082186 ]has a long hours culture[/url]. So what's better? a situation where people do 5 hours of very productive work and go home, or a situation where people do 8 hours of less productive work, but through sheer volume end up producing more for the day? One's better for people, one's better for the economy I'd imagine. And ultimately, looking at Spain, Italy, Greece etc, I'd say doing what's best for the economy is also best for the people in the long run.

Other countries don't have STW - dragging down the nation's productivity since 2001.

Get back to work, all of you!

'Back' to work would suggest we'd started some in the first place

Brew anyone?

Ooh lovely binners, ta. Should I put clothes on first?

No need too really. Just don't put the webcam on yet

Is it too early for biscuits?

****less, that's you two that is.

Dragging the whole country down with you, tea stains and biscuit crumbs on your vests.

I'm off today, and I've put 4 towels in the washer, had a poo and I'll be fully dressed by 10:30.

So what's better? a situation where people do 5 hours of very productive work and go home, or a situation where people do 8 hours of less productive work, but through sheer volume end up producing more for the day?

Or where they do about 5 hours productive work and spend 3 hours browsing the web to make up their hours to meet expectations....

Crikey, we may not be working on graphic design or IT, but we are helping the UK maintain world domination in the biscuit industry.

I'm very impressed with your multi-tasking though crikey!

What did you do to the four towels that rendered them all in need of a clean at the same time you dirty bugger?

I have 3 children who have a rather quaint approach to towel usage which seems to involve a towel fairy, unlimited supplies of towels and an extremely strong gravitational force.

Basically they use one towel then drop it, usually in their festering bedroom, where it stays, festering until I realise that there are no towels in the bathroom.

In a sense they are creating work which gives the illusion that we are a productive family unit rather than a dysfunctional set of festering festerers.

Slaving away is good for the numbers in the short term but not sustainable and the workforce eventually crumble/revolt.

Id say the problem in Spain is that a lot of people do 5 hours of unproductive work and then go home... double wammy!

Best in the long run is a days productive work at 80% capacity and then go and enjoy yourself.

What the job pays isn't the point though is it? productivity is what the job creates not what the employee takes home. Not all work yields money or things though for instance....

Which is why I asked How is it measured. Although better paid jobs do tend to produce more valuable goods / services, but as you correctly say putting value on many public sector jobs is hard.