U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#11

Post by bdw5204 » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 1:57 PM UTC

I think there's a very obvious reason for the "productivity drop": Return to Office

I remember tons of studies showing that remote work had caused unprecedented increases in productivity so it seems plausible to me that companies ending it caused the productivity drop which caused the minor recession earlier this year (the big one due to the Fed's rate hikes is, I believe, still in the future). The article itself even acknowledges that remote work increased productivity yet ignores the 50 foot tall elephant in the room that is RTO.

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#12

Post by ep103 » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 1:58 PM UTC

sylens wrote: post #6

Perhaps people have had to expend more energy just keeping their personal life together in the last few years. People with children have had to deal with the constant school closings, childcare facility closings, etc. and that has taken its toll. They may have family members who got Covid or had treatment for other ailments delayed by the pandemic's rush to treat Covid patients. They could've experienced a huge shift…

During Covid, people were hiding in their homes, quarantined, with nothing to do but work.

This year, companies expect workers to return to office, despite little change in conditions, except now we have to deal with all of the above issues you've just mentioned, AND the fact that employees have now proven they can work remotely perfectly well.

It should neither be surprising that in a system where healthcare is tied to employment, that productivity jumped while people were locking themselves in their houses from a plague, or that productivity dropped afterwards, or that it might drop given the complete callousness of our current system.

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#13

Post by caseysoftware » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

https://archive.ph/fTkHI

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#14

Post by FearlessNebula » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:00 PM UTC

It’s the phones. Our attention spans and ability to focus have been destroyed by constant little hits of dopamine.

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#15

Post by thebigspacefuck » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:01 PM UTC

FearlessNebula wrote: post #14

It’s the phones. Our attention spans and ability to focus have been destroyed by constant little hits of dopamine.

But why now? It seems like that would have happened sooner.

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#16

Post by ianai » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

Yesterdays post about interest rates and expected returns seems related from an aggregate and opposite side of the market:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33394486

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#17

Post by nonameiguess » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:04 PM UTC

Going to speak for my organization only, but I know exactly why we have become less productive. And it isn't even a bad thing. It's security. We played loose and fast and took risks. We got lucky (as far as I know) and it never bit us, but it certainly bit adjacent organizations and mandates started coming down from higher up to no longer play fast and loose and to prioritize security.

There is inherently a tradeoff here. Don't trust and verify takes longer than trust and don't verify.

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#18

Post by ianai » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:05 PM UTC

fazfq wrote: post #5

kennend3 wrote: post #4

Perhaps people are at the point of revolt over the ever widening productivity vs pay gap? https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ Productivity kept on climbing and wages stagnated post ~1980 Time for the workers to reap some of that benefit.

It's supply and demand - the supply of workers has doubled the last decades while demand has remained roughly the same. I think it's a miracle that salaries are so high currently.

This is actually contrary to Econ theory and empirical data. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33394486

The trend is towards less immigration and thus lower demand for goods/services and lower supply of labor.

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#19

Post by exabrial » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:07 PM UTC

A couple of reasons I can see, just my opinion

* My buddies in trade-based fields say they are working harder than ever, as their backlog has only increased in size

* Less scrutiny when working from home, more fooling around, less work

* Feeling that "grass is greener" elsewhere, therefore no longer being committed

* Polling has shown that their ideal job for Gen-Z is being a CEO of a company, but few seem motivated to start their own business as those stats have been down. Clearly there's a gap in motivation or understanding

Re: U.S. workers have gotten less productive – no one is sure why

#20

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 31, 2022, 2:08 PM UTC

kennend3 wrote: post #4

Perhaps people are at the point of revolt over the ever widening productivity vs pay gap? https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ Productivity kept on climbing and wages stagnated post ~1980 Time for the workers to reap some of that benefit.

[deleted]