It appears to be a thing lately for CEOs to blurt out their frustration over the fact that their workers want raises. "Nobody wants to work anymore" is the usual refrain. Or, since unemployment is demonstrably low, perhaps they admit that people are working, they just aren't working very hard. But it ain't true:
Productivity is mostly the result of improved equipment, but it would nonetheless go down if there was some kind of mass shirking in the workplace. Obviously there isn't. Labor productivity right now is above its pre-pandemic trend. So maybe we all cut the crap about lazy workers who got a little too full of themselves during the pandemic?
Oh puh-LEEZ! No Marxist here but FFS how could there be a clearer distinction between owners and workers? It's boom times for companies! Nobody's going out of business; in fact, earnings are up and productivity is up! WTF are they complaining about?
Okay, rhetorical question. They are complaining about (1) not having the luxury of a large unemployed population to use as a cudgel against workers and (2) having to pay more workers a LITTLE more as a consequence.
Here's my question: why does ANYONE take their whining seriously and not instead throw rocks (or worse) at them? And while we're at it, why are we not restraining owners the way the Germans and Swiss do, with mandatory labor representation on boards, limits on executive compensation, etc.? Germans and Swiss for those hard of hearing: not exactly Communists.
I can't even ...
And let us not forget, that the German and Swiss (by and large) do not burden large corporations with the cost of the health care insurance for their workers. Employers don't pay for insurance (or self insure), the Government does.
Less burden on corporations!
I wish this argument would actually work to get us public health care.
Actually, no; in Germany, for most employed persons, healthcare premiums are paid by employer and employee. It is a ‘multi-payer’ system. Self-employed persons must pay their own premiums; unemployment benefits include healthcare coverage.
Madame sings her favorite song, "Head Over Heels".....
" why does ANYONE take their whining seriously and not instead throw rocks (or worse) at them?"
Because they pay money to their representative in the congress and local government, and (some of them) own the media.
Correlation to WFH boom during lockdown and the subsequent partial return to the office is kind of amusing, don't you think?
I was going to point out the same thing. But of course Kevin, anti-WFH crusader that he is (becoming), ignored it.
Obviously I'm not going to claim that the entire boost to productivity is due to WFH, but some of it certainly is.
I think it's clear that WFH was a net benefit and only people with a backwards understanding of the workplace think differently. Managers think WFH is bad because they have nothing to do all day. Software engineers, conversely, see WFH as a chance to finally get some shit done!
What struck me is this chart in comparison with the one posted yesterday showing that, adjusted for inflation, wages have pretty much fallen back to where they were pre-pandemic. So productivity (and corporate profits, natch) continues to climb, but wages have stagnated. Quelle surprise. And people wonder why unions are enjoying a moment...
Are these numbers inflation adjusted?!!?
No - according the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, labor productivity is measured as "output per worker". Now, if you were looking for value of the output, that could be adjusted for inflation. But if you are looking at, say, how many back-acting left-handed rubber swab handles a worker produces per hour, that's pretty much a per hour output total divided by the number of workers doing the production. No inflation adjustment (other than the averaging of number of units produced to) applies.
Edit to remove redundant sentence.
He was joking.
Unfortunately no. There is no way to add up barrels of oil, video games, car repairs, haircuts, lawns mowed and the million other things produced. So the BLS does in fact measure output in terms of value-added. I believe there are adjustments based on changes in product characteristics and quality. The denominator remains as hours worked. You can find information on methodology at BLS.gov …
The worst of the whining overlords is wealthy Vivek Ramaswamy, vowing to reduce the federal workforce by 75%.
Is he planning to leave enough for trump to install his loyalists to make money when he regains power? Not that I expect RS to win now, or trump later).