Productivity in U.S. Rises as Companies Try to Cut Labor Costs

[Purveyor]

By Shobhana Chandra - May 2, 2013

The productivity of U.S. workers rose in the first quarter as companies focused on containing labor expenses.

The measure of employee output per hour increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate, after dropping 1.7 percent in the prior three months, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 1 percent advance. Expenses per worker increased at a 0.5 percent rate after jumping 4.4 percent.

Employers tried to control expenses by making do with their existing staff as demand grew in the January to March period. The emphasis on wringing efficiency gains may mean hiring will take time to accelerate, particularly as across-the board federal budget cutbacks and higher payroll taxes restrain the world’s largest economy.

“Businesses are struggling to raise productivity,” Guy Berger, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “Companies are struggling to increase profits as well. Employment has taken a downshift. The second half is going to be better for employment.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-02/productivity-in-u-s-rises-as-companies-try-to-cut-labor-costs.html

[dawg]

1. Productivity = workers doing the same work for less pay

Remember that when you hear glowing news about gains in productivity.

[snappyturtle]

3. +1 Absolutely. I can hardly stand reading Bloomberg anything.

At one time companies rewarded employees for increased
productivity. I guess that's an old concept now when the
meme has become "squeeze" the life out of existing hires.

[The2ndWheel]

4. At one time, maybe they needed to reward increased productivity in order to get it

Maybe they don't need to to that now, and can still get increased productivity. Mostly because you're probably not really needed anymore. Your job can be done somewhere else, by someone else, or something else.

For the right, culturally it's not the 1950's anymore. For the left, economically it's not the 1950's anymore.

Everything we do seems to be about efficiency. Getting more for less. Why would labor be any different?

[snappyturtle]

5. That's exactly what's wrong. There's no respect for the workers and no

attempt to shape employees into loyal little worker bees like with
pensions, healthcare, paid vacations, etc. So we got a bunch of
unhappy and job fearing people doing the daily grind for ingrates.

edit: I guess it's the new "American Dream"....just to have a lousy job.

[meow2u3]

7. Rise in productivity = workers doing twice the work for half the pay

Employers are effectively ripping off their workers b/c they're expecting them to do the work of two or three people and not paying them a fair day's pay for the work of one person, let alone two or three.

In other words, the bosses are refusing to share the profits with those who work for them.

[leftstreet]

2. DURec

[pampango]

6. Reminds me of this graph of manufacturing productivity versus jobs

http://emsnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/nuclear-wars-and-earthquakes-increase-economic-problems/