Productivity is up 5.7% in Q2, meaning...

[Winetalk.com]

if you are looking for a job-
it's tougher find one,
PRODUCTIVITY makes labor force less needed...

[Jesse_DD]

Serge, I don’t know the answer to this, but… might it be possible that the productivity numbers increase is a function of the loss of jobs. So, less people in the workforce = companies find ways to output more per employee. If this is the case and productivity continues to increase for another quarter or so wouldn’t these same companies now have to rehire to account for this gain in productivity (too much work for one employee to continue to output)? ? ?

[sarettah]

Originally posted by Jesse_DD@Aug 7 2003, 10:22 AM
Serge, I don’t know the answer to this, but… might it be possible that the productivity numbers increase is a function of the loss of jobs. So, less people in the workforce = companies find ways to output more per employee. If this is the case and productivity continues to increase for another quarter or so wouldn’t these same companies now have to rehire to account for this gain in productivity (too much work for one employee to continue to output)? ? ?

That made me fucking dizzy...damn.....

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by Jesse_DD@Aug 7 2003, 10:22 AM
Serge, I don’t know the answer to this, but… might it be possible that the productivity numbers increase is a function of the loss of jobs. So, less people in the workforce = companies find ways to output more per employee. If this is the case and productivity continues to increase for another quarter or so wouldn’t these same companies now have to rehire to account for this gain in productivity (too much work for one employee to continue to output)? ? ?

nope..
jobs going overseas with lower salaries have that effect on productivity...

are you aware that lots of customer service calls to local companies are answered in...India?
;-)))

[ulfie]

Not surprising. The company I used to work for has had a hiring freeze for a year. I left over a year ago and they made my friend do my job as well as his. He's still bitching about it every time we play golf together. Definately accounts for the rise in "productivity" but I've always believed that was BS. My friend that I worked with could barely keep up with his own job when I worked there let alone do mine as well. Frankly, he doesn't even have the skills to do my old job because certain languages I wrote programs in he doesn't know and isn't likely to learn since he's a year from retirement. In a long winded way what I'm saying is productivity numbers may look good on paper but the name is misleading. Workers aren't getting more productive, certain functions just aren't getting done anymore.

[Hell Puppy]

A lot of tech jobs including development are moving to places like India as well. There are tons of programmers there who'll work for next to nothing.

If the trend continues it could ultimately mimic what happened with textiles and other industries. And with software products, thanks to the Internet, you do not even have to wait for the finished product to arrive in the U.S. on a boat....it can be here instantaneously.

[Jesse_DD]

Yes, India has one of the largest call center operations in the world.

It used to be that only low wage jobs were being sent overseas. Now, high end jobs are going as well.

Hard to say whether this is good or bad. I have heard economists argue both sides pretty convincingly.

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by Jesse_DD@Aug 7 2003, 10:59 AM
I have heard economists argue both sides pretty convincingly.

The current state of economics in a nutshell. Was interesting to watch various Nobel Prize winners line up either for or against the Bush tax cut. It was all pretty obvious. Milton Friedman was going to be in the Bush camp and Stiglitz was not.

[Buff]

A couple of thoughts from a regular guy who is mere porn talent:

1) A real increase in productivity is always a good thing, as it frees up more capital for further expansion of business or creation of new businesses, which results in increased employment.

2) There is no way to measure a thing like productivity, much less aggregate the ridiculous measurements and put out a statistic called "Productivity". You can measure your net cash flows, count your employees, and compare your purchasing power now to your purchasing power in the past, but the government has neither the means nor the understanding to make any kind of estimation about such things as "productivity".

[ulfie]

Originally posted by Colin+Aug 7 2003, 11:11 AM-->