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MANDRL
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Location: South Korea
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 Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:40 am Post subject: U.N.: Americans most productive |
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http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/09/02/un.productivity.ap/index.html
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GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.
They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity."
The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg at $55,641, Belgium at $55,235 and France at $54,609.
The productivity figure is found by dividing the country's gross domestic product by the number of people employed. The U.N. report is based on 2006 figures for many countries, or the most recent available.
Only part of the U.S. productivity growth, which has outpaced that of many other developed economies, can be explained by the longer hours Americans are putting in, the ILO said.
The U.S., according to the report, also beats all 27 nations in the European Union, Japan and Switzerland in the amount of wealth created per hour of work -- a second key measure of productivity.
Norway, which is not an EU member, generates the most output per working hour, $37.99, a figure inflated by the country's billions of dollars in oil exports and high prices for goods at home. The U.S. is second at $35.63, about a half dollar ahead of third-place France.
Seven years ago, French workers produced over a dollar more on average than their American counterparts. The country led the U.S. in hourly productivity from 1994 to 2003.
The U.S. employee put in an average 1,804 hours of work in 2006, the report said. That compared with 1,407.1 hours for the Norwegian worker and 1,564.4 for the French.
It pales, however, in comparison with the annual hours worked per person in Asia, where seven economies -- South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Thailand -- surpassed 2,200 average hours per worker. But those countries had lower productivity rates.
America's increased productivity "has to do with the ICT (information and communication technologies) revolution, with the way the U.S. organizes companies, with the high level of competition in the country, with the extension of trade and investment abroad," said Jose Manuel Salazar, the ILO's head of employment.
The ILO report warned that the widening of the gap between leaders such as the U.S. and poorer nations has been even more dramatic.
Laborers from regions such as southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have the potential to create more wealth but are being held back by a lack of investment in training, equipment and technology, the agency said.
In sub-Saharan Africa, workers are only about one-twelfth as productive as those in developed countries, the report said.
"The huge gap in productivity and wealth is cause for great concern," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said, adding that it was important to raise productivity levels of the lowest-paid workers in the world's poorest countries.
China and other East Asian countries are catching up quickest with Western countries. Productivity in the region has doubled in the past decade and is accelerating faster than anywhere else, the report said.
But they still have a long way to go: Workers in East Asia are still only about one-fifth as productive as laborers in industrialized countries.
The vast differences among China's sectors tell part of the story. Whereas a Chinese industrial worker produces $12,642 worth of output -- almost eight times more than in 1980 -- a laborer in the farm and fisheries sector contributes a paltry $910 to gross domestic product.
The difference is much less pronounced in the United States, where a manufacturing employee produced an unprecedented $104,606 of value in 2005. An American farm laborer, meanwhile, created $52,585 worth of output, down 10 percent from seven years ago, when U.S. agricultural productivity peaked. |
Edit. I just think it's an interesting article. As an American, I have always felt we get a bum rap internationally as being lazy. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:18 am Post subject: |
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You can't beat America!  |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:14 am Post subject: |
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| Koreans work a lot but most of it is screwing the pooch or a result of just a general lack of planning. "Oh, let's have 5 people working at a Dunkin' Donuts with only 4 tables!" |
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faster
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:09 am Post subject: |
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| Too bad the average american worker doesn't see much of that "wealth." |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:37 am Post subject: |
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| faster wrote: |
| Too bad the average american worker doesn't see much of that "wealth." |
Unions have been well busted. They have themselves to blame in part. |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| American workers aren't the most productive by themselves. The report concerns American management and managers. The workers do what they are told. |
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Zulu
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:45 am Post subject: |
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| faster wrote: |
| Too bad the average american worker doesn't see much of that "wealth." |
I'll second that! |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:41 am Post subject: |
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| Tony_Balony wrote: |
| American workers aren't the most productive by themselves. The report concerns American management and managers. The workers do what they are told. |
That does not describe me or any office mate I've ever worked with. We do not simply do what we're told. We try to find more efficient ways of doing our job. |
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gmat
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Too bad the average american worker doesn't see much of that "wealth." |
Yeah, Americans are so poor. I feel sorry for them. With a median household income of $48,201, they must be starving. 
Give your head a shake. |
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Saxiif
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:05 am Post subject: |
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American have high productivity per year and have mediocre productivity per hour (which matters more).
Koreans have mediocre productivity per year and have craptacular productivity per hour.
I believe Luxembourg wins out for productivity for hour with most northern and western Europeans countries beating out the US. |
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gmat
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:18 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
American have high productivity per year and have mediocre productivity per hour (which matters more).
Koreans have mediocre productivity per year and have craptacular productivity per hour.
I believe Luxembourg wins out for productivity for hour with most northern and western Europeans countries beating out the US. |
WRONG.
"Norway, which is not an EU member, generates the most output per working hour, $37.99, a figure inflated by the country's billions of dollars in oil exports and high prices for goods at home. The U.S. is second at $35.63, about a half dollar ahead of third-place France."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/09/02/un.productivity.ap/index.html |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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Matt_22
Joined: 22 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:47 am Post subject: |
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| kind of surprising and impressive that the gigantic USA is the 2nd most productive per hour compared to the smaller, more densley developed economies in europe. |
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