March 5, 2022

Productivity

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220304/dq220304c-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan

Hidden in these numbers (because of the introduction of new work processes) are examples of a massive increase in work intensity and increase in hours of work coming out of the pandemic. It is both that certain groups lost hours, while others increased their hours, but also increased the intensity of work.

Labour productivity does not decline with hours.

Which is the measure of intensity of work. I am trying to tease out the data more, but it looks like there is a massive increase in intensity of work that has not all dissipated as the economy has increased.

Profit rates have returned faster than full employment in their sectors.

So, even with increased "costs" they are farther ahead in profit rates per worker.

Here is average hours worked and output per employed worker/productivity

/img/prod-hours.png

A different way to look at it showing the larger productivity measures on the right.

/img/prod-hours3.png

/img/chart(2).png

This means that I think that smart organizations will blunt the push to in person. I think of it more like technological change that has increased productivity. It is very hard to undo tech change that has been implemented. What will happen is a rebase of this over time to a new higher productivity level in industries that can figure it out.

Union and other organizations that have managers who don't measure anything because there is no competition/benefit in productivity will of course ignore such data.

The push back will be from workers who are asked to sustain their "new" levels of productivity, but also asked to "return to old work regimes".

Something will have to give and it will depend on the internal forces of productivity and political consequences of trying to undo productivity gains to satisfy poor management "work" who have been deemed redundant.

I have added this analysis to by new project of explaining the political economy of internal union economics.

Mainly, the data show that unions (and thus similar organizations) respond to things like OCC pressures in the private sector VERY differently from for-profit organizations in competition.

Which should result in different internal policies around technological adoption (and thus different orientation to bargaining) of these groups.

It won't of course, because our organizations are not run by people who care about such things, but they should.