U.N. Finds U.S. Has More Productive Workers

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

POSTED: 8:13 pm EDT September 2, 2007

GENEVA -- 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.

Read more: http://www.nbc10.com/news/14032982/detail.html

[mcscajun]

1. Not a big surprise, considering wave after wave of cutbacks and

growing demands from management has led the US worker to a point where they're doing the work of those who've gone, while looking over the shoulder afraid they'll be next. You get a lot of work done like that. I noticed this week that IBM is promoting a culture where vacations are becoming "voluntary".

It's a shame that nearly all of the profit of these overall productivity increases have mostly flowed to owners, stockholders and CEOs, and very little to the workers responsible.

But, what can you expect in our frenetic race to the bottom in a country where the gap between rich and poor widens nearly exponentially by the decade? :grr:

[RL3AO]

2. Obviously. American's work hard.

Unlike some unnamed European country that starts with a F.

[phusion]

7. What are you trying to say?

Did you read the story?

"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."

Do you still order "freedom fries" with your burger? :eyes:

[ClintonTyree]

12. Maybe the poster was referring to........

Finland. ;)

[SayWhatYo]

30. Obviously he was referring to the Freerepublic

[0007]

17. Are you being facetious? If so use the sarcasm icon. n/t

[toopers]

37. I think what he was referring too . . .

was the law in France which limits people to a 36 hour work week, or some nonsense like that.

[LanternWaste]

40. I'm getting confused...

I'm getting confused... aren't we suppose to call that place 'The Country of Freedom' rather than the Country of France, or is that jus for the food?

:rofl: (Oh-- I slay myself. "Well somebody should" was the response)

[provis99]

3. time for the revolution.

All high productivity means is that workers are working better, for longer hours, and thereby earning less per hour for it. Ironic, that thats how it works: if we all work longer, we can get paid less! But isn't that the basis of capitalism? When supply of labor increases faster than demand, wages fall? What a wonderful system :grr:

[mitchum]

21. Exactly...all profit is nothing more than UNPAID labor

[snot]

4. I'd be interested in similar comparisons of compensation --

i.e., taking into account salary and benefits, how much are workers paid per dollar of productivity?

Another set of numbers should compare after-tax wages AND another should compare the value of benefits provided by a government that have to come out of the salaries of workers in other countries.

[0007]

18. The U.S. would rate toward the bottom of the list........

[FreakinDJ]

5. And still CAN NOT AFFORD Health care

Who would da thunk it

That must be because WE DON'T DESERVE IT

[daleo]

10. All that productivity is supporting a huge war machine

It is hard to have good health care and a huge military.

[me b zola]

38. We're so busy creating more wealth for the wealthy

...that we don't have the energy to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Remember when RayGun declared

that all our economic woes were the result of poor productivity?

Gee...There goes that theory.

[FreakinDJ]

14. Must be the UNION's fault

n/t

[KitSileya]

8. And think,

Norwegians get 5 weeks paid vacation, decent wages (CEOs get about 5-7 times what the average worker gets, not 270,) labor laws that protect them from exploitation and their bosses' whims, 1 year paid maternity leave, and they have to pay ca 36% of their wages in income tax - all condictions repugnicans claim would decrease productivity, not increase it.

[FreakinDJ]

15. Not to mention...

Cradle to Grave health care, FREE College education...

Defense Contractors are the Grimm Reaper of the American economy

[bvar22]

9. Not something to brag about. if you must work for a living.

Fewer workers doing more work for less pay.....:woohoo:
Downright scary for the Working Class.


Is it time to eat the rich yet?


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[Indenturedebtor]

11. Our children will thank u for it

Our children will thank us for it by eating us. This next generation will be full to the brim of ignorant, unloved, improperly socialized, violent monsters who are completely desensitized to violence. Good news is that they'll all probably be so morbidly obese and full of tumors that we just might be able to take em :D

[Socal31]

13. You mean all Americans arent rich, fat, lazy,

and/or cowboys? Noooooooo! Not a positive article on the USA! What f*cking closet repug posted this nonsense?

[SayWhatYo]

31. I want to be a rich cowboy...

or maybe a llama pirate.

[sofa king]

16. Happy Labor Day, America! Now get back to work.

[fasttense]

19. According to Fortune magazine, Americans are just plain lazy.

Are Americans too lazy?
U.S. workers can't compete globally unless they work harder, writes Fortune's Geoff Colvin.
By Geoff Colvin, Fortune senior editor-at-large
August 23 2007: 6:10 AM EDT

(Fortune Magazine) -- We Americans pride ourselves on being a hard-working bunch, so here's a thought to spoil your Labor Day rest: By global standards, we're lazy. We've been getting lazier. And the days of the American dolce vita may be numbered.

The surprising report of our relative sloth arrives in new research from the UN's International Labor Organization, which looks at working hours around the world. When it comes to what we might call hard work, meaning the proportion of workers who put in more than 48 hours a week, America is near the bottom of the heap. About 18% of our employed people work that much.

We're enjoying our wealth. Sweating less and having more is the idea. GE chief Jeff Immelt is a believer in work-life balance, but wonders about America's ability to compete. That's a higher proportion than in a few other developed countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and even Japan. But it's actually lower than in Switzerland and Britain, and way lower than in developing countries like Mexico and Thailand. It's drastically lower than in what may be the world's two hardest-working countries, South Korea and Peru, where the proportions are about 50%.

http://money.cnn.tv/2007/08/22/news/economy/lazy_american_workers.fortune/index.htm

Interesting that they both looked at the same numbers (the UN report) and they both came away with different opinions.

Fortune claims Americans are just plain lazy and the AP says Americans much more productive. Since fortune only cares about the CEO class, I suspect their reporting is full of BS.

[mcscajun]

20. I suspect you are correct about Fortune.

Borrowing from a colleague, I raise this flag today in honor of Fortune Magazine's report:

[Deja Q]

36. I posted that about a week ago; and the feedback page:

http://talkback.blogs.fortune.com/2007/08/22/are-americans-a-bunch-of-lazy-bums/

Definitely glad to see that article make a return presence. It should be reported by many for some time, IMHO.

:yourock:

[Demeter]

39. I Agree: The CEO's In US ARE Much Too Lazy, And Overpaid!

And that's what should be the conclusion of this report.

[happygoluckytoyou]

22. YOU ARE LETTING THE TERRORISTS WIN

SHHHHH! IF AMERICANS GET THE IDEA THAT THEY HAVE BEEN CONNED INTO WORKING HARDER AND THEN THEY DISCOVER THAT EUROPEANS GO HOME AFTER 8 HOURS, AND TAKE OFF A MONTH FOR HOLIDAY, AND LIVE BETTER LIVES, AND LIVE IN REAL HOUSES WITH YARDS, AND HAVE HEALTH CARE... THEY WILL BEGIN TO THINK THAT THEIR CORPORATE MASTERS, THE WINNERS OF THE GREAT MONOPOLY GAME WE CALL AMERICA, ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THEM. THEN THEY WILL BEGIN TO BELIEVE THAT WARS AND OTHER HARDSHIPS ARE NOT NECESSARY TO SUPPORT THIS FAKE LIFESTYLE OF THE BITCH AND AIMLESS (THANK YOU PARIS).

AND THEN WHAT?

PEOPLE WILL WORK LESS HARD? PROFITEERS WILL NEED TO GO ELSEWHERE FOR LABOR (THANK YOU OUTSOURCING) TO SOME OTHER ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY THAT RHYMES WITH BLINDIA? THAT THEY WILL TAKE AND HIDE THEIR ILLEGAL PROFITS IN A COUNTRY THAT RHYMES WITH G'DAY? THAT THEY WILL BUY MASSIVE PLOTS OF LAND IN SOUTH AMERICA (HEY BUSH).

IS THIS THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE?
IS ALL LOST?

.....WHERE IS UNDERDOG WHEN YOU NEED HIM....

[Ilsa]

23. Yeah, we work harder but who gets the dividends? Bonuses? nt

[hunter]

24. We are sort of like factory farm chickens, aren't we?

In goes the feed, out go the eggs. The less feed, the more eggs, the higher the "productivity."

You'd think with all this "productivity" we'd have a thirty hour work week, universal healthcare, ten week paid vacations, public funding of college tuitions, etc., etc., etc...

But no, instead we fear that we will be turned into cheap hot dogs, animal feed, and fuel for industry when our productivity wanes.

[alfredo]

25. We need to be paid for that hard work. Unionize!

From DailyKos


Unions work for you.

[RL3AO]

27. Is that for similar jobs?

Because that can be a tad mis-leading. Do unions cause higher paying jobs, or do higher paying jobs cause unions? Someone making 60k+ per year is more likely to be in a union than someone that works at McDonalds. So I'm just wondering if that graph could be a tad mis-leading.

[alfredo]

28. The n# from The US Dept of Labor. I got the link from Kos

http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/why/uniondifference/uniondiff4.cfm

You know the labor department wouldn't want the numbers to show unions are good for workers.

[SayWhatYo]

32. Why do Asians make so much more than Latinos & African Americans?

[alfredo]

34. positive stereotyping

[scisyhp1]

26. Dividing the gross domestic product by the number of people employed

does not take into account all the illegal workers in the US. I bet they produce
quite a bit of value. Besides that, "value" created by the US financial services
industry, which also serves the rest of the world as "international markets" gets
booked in the US as "domestic". On per worker basis nothing beats that so-called
"value". Either way your look at these data main conclusion is that US leads the
World in exploitation of workers both domestic and foreign.

[SayWhatYo]

29. I always thought it was the Japanese who led in that area...

[DuaneBidoux]

33. I find interesting how close, hour for hour, the French are to U.S.

All the regs, all the safety, all the "welfare" state and they are very close hour per hour to the U.S.

But the big difference is that THEY HAVE A LIFE and we don't.

[Deja Q]

35. Americans work hard and good, so that's why corporations offshore and then say

Americans are not qualified, are lazy, et cetera.

I wish I could K&R, but it's been longer than 24 hours. :(