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Stories Tagged as

Productivity

Productivity in the U.S. fell last month, but the nation's output increased. How does that work?

by Justin Ho
May 4, 2023
What matters here is how the Labor Department defines productivity.
More people are working, since a lot of sectors — like leisure and hospitality — are playing catchup on hiring.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
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A more productive U.S. economy could unlock $10 trillion

by David Brancaccio and Alex Schroeder
Feb 27, 2023
Higher productivity could drive up wages, temper inflation and aid the energy transition, the McKinsey Global Institute finds.
Jean-Sebastien Evrard/AFP via Getty Images
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In U.K. 4-day work week trial, companies see happier employees — and higher productivity

by Stephen Beard
Dec 19, 2022
70 U.K. companies have just completed a 6-month experiment with a shorter week with full pay – and early results are promising.
While some companies that partook in the U.K.'s 4-day work week experiment saw benefits, labor experts are skeptical that it could be replicated at all businesses. Above, London commuters in December 2021.
Chris J. Ratcliffe/Getty Images
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Could this meeting be an email?

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Nov 16, 2022
One worker’s experience with a meeting-free week.
As an experiment in productivity, software company Zapier canceled all meetings for a week. Above, a cat attends a Zoom session.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
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Raising the curtain on "productivity theater"

by Kai Ryssdal
Oct 4, 2022
Employees don't want be labeled "quiet quitters," so they're working to appear busy. Rani Molla of Vox explains the practice.
Nearly 90% of managers don't trust that their hybrid employees are productive, according to a Microsoft survey.
Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images
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Why manufacturing productivity is on the rise

by Justin Ho
Sep 1, 2022
Manufacturers are producing more goods with fewer workers, given the tight labor market. But the sector has been hiring more in recent months.
Revised data from the Labor Department show productivity among manufacturers rose almost 5% in the second quarter.
Morry Gash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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Some employers are using software to remotely monitor worker productivity

by David Brancaccio , Alex Schroeder and Jarrett Dang
Aug 30, 2022
Jodi Kantor from The New York Times describes how companies are increasingly using new software tools to evaluate how hard their employees are working.
A new report from The New York Times delves into increasingly common monitoring software used to track employee productivity.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
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"We just can't function in the same way": Extreme heat and worker productivity

by Samantha Fields
Aug 19, 2022
Extreme heat isn't just uncomfortable. It can hurt workers' health and make them prone to errors, one expert says.
The threshold where heat starts to really affect how well people can focus and work is roughly 90 degrees, says Amir Jina at the University of Chicago.
Mark Makela/Getty Images
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American workers are becoming less productive. Blame the pandemic.

by Justin Ho
Aug 8, 2022
It's a volatile indicator, but the trend has been downward.
A worker assembles the interior of a safe. Many small business are looking to boost revenues in anticipation of a potential recession.
George Frey/Getty Images
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What a dip in productivity tells us about the economy

by Savannah Peters
May 5, 2022
For one thing, it's not helpful in the fight against inflation.
"Productivity is an escape hatch for inflation," said Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo.
Johannes Eisele/ AFP via Getty Images
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