UK productivity on the rise - Workforce Management News

ONS report shows a rise in Productivity but the ‘productivity puzzle’ remains.

The latest report from the ONS (Office of National Statistics) on Quarter 3 2017 (July to September) shows that UK labour productivity is on the rise for the first time since Quarter 4 (October to November) 2016.

The report calculates labour productivity, seen as a driver for living standards, by dividing output by labour input. Output is estimated as the volume of goods or services produced by an industry, and input measured as workers, jobs and hours worked.

 

Hourly labour productivity grew 0.9% in Q3 2017, equivalent to the largest increase since Q2 2011, pushing productivity to 1% above its peak in Q4 2017, before the economic downturn. This is despite unit labour costs increasing for the tenth consecutive quarter. Also noted in the report is that the output per hour has risen in both services and manufacturing. In Q3 2017, both areas benefited from 1% growth.

 

However, although this increase is comparable to average productivity growth, there still remains a trend for lower growth in productivity, which is known as the ‘productivity puzzle’. Historically, productivity has increased over time, continuing right up until the start of the economic downturn in the period 2008-2009. This rate of increase has yet to return, which is unprecedented in post-war Britain; after all previous economic downturns, productivity subsequently returned to the previous trend rate of growth.

 

 

Bodet’s Time & Attendance Solutions will allow you to increase productivity and efficiency across your organisation through functions such as absence management, staff planning and job costing. With these systems in place, you can make suitable provision for employee absences, plan activities, jobs and shifts in a more efficient manner, and analyse the cost of each activity.

 

If you would like a demonstration to see how we can tailor our Time & Attendance Systems for the specific needs of your organisation, please contact us.