Labor productivity is an economic indicator, a synonym for the concept of “labor productivity”. It is determined by the number of products produced per unit time. It is also one of the indicators of labor efficiency. In Russia, labor productivity is still quite low and has not been growing in recent years.
What is meant by labor productivity
Most often, labor productivity is determined by the volume of production produced by the worker for a certain period of time. The opposite indicator is the complexity - the amount of labor time required to obtain a certain amount of production.
Link Performance and Health
Labor productivity often depends on employee performance. On this, in particular, the fears of scientists are based, consisting in the fact that with global warming it will begin to decline. Another negative factor may be a drop in performance due to the direct physiological effect of elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide. The quality of products may also depend on operability.
Types of labor productivity
There are 3 types of labor productivity:
- cash
- actual
- potential.
Cash is defined as the ratio of the maximum possible production output to the time of ideally debugged labor activity during which the product is manufactured. Moreover, all other costs are ignored. That is, the process is ideally debugged and coordinated, and the available means of production are used to the maximum. At the same time, there are no interruptions in the supply of materials and components, as well as other unplanned factors that can lead to downtime or reduced performance.
Actual productivity is defined as the ratio of the actual output of the enterprise to the amount of labor time spent on its production. Since a person is not able to work with maximum efficiency all the time, and the equipment can fail, etc., the actual productivity will almost always be less than the cash.
Potential productivity is determined by the ratio of the maximum theoretically possible production output to the labor time spent on its production. In the calculation, it is assumed that the company uses the most modern technologies, materials, the latest equipment. And the functioning of the enterprise is as coordinated as possible and does not allow breakdowns, delays in work and interruptions in the supply of materials and components.
Thus, of all types of labor productivity, potential productivity will have the greatest value.
How to increase labor efficiency
Labor productivity is not a constant and may vary under the influence of various factors. Many of them can be adjusted. Of the greatest importance for increasing this indicator is scientific and technological progress. The growth of automation, the improvement of equipment, the introduction of new production technologies and technical developments often lead to an increase in labor productivity.
In second place in importance is the organization of the production process. The coherence of the enterprise and the flexibility of process control reduces the likelihood of downtime and interruptions in supply, makes it possible to more fully use the capabilities of existing production facilities.
Of great importance are social indicators. Timely wages, a friendly and close-knit team of workers, various incentives in the form of bonuses, etc., decent wages, optimization of the work and rest regime, environmental conditions and microclimate at the enterprise affect working capacity, desire to work and produce more products, as well as on human health, on which performance depends.
World dynamics of labor productivity
Scientific and technological progress has led to a steady increase in labor efficiency in many countries of the world. First of all, this applies to economically developed states. The computer revolution and the advent of robotics had a great influence. Until 1991, the fastest growth was observed in Japan, France, Germany. In the USA, its maximum occurred in the 90s. In the 2000s, this country was the leader in terms of productivity.
In Germany, labor productivity (per 1 person) from 1991 to 2006 increased by 22.5 percent. Based on the unit of labor time, growth was even greater - 32.4%. The difference in numbers is explained by the fact that during this period a reduction in the length of the working day was observed.
An increase in labor productivity in Russia and developed countries does not always mean a comparable increase in wages. So, in the United States until 1970, there was a simultaneous increase in productivity and all types of salaries, however, then the increase in salaries began to lag behind productivity dynamics, and the minimum wage level even decreased. This means that now more and more funds are deposited in the accounts of wealthy citizens, or spent on other purposes, including the military.
Low labor productivity in Russia
The value of this indicator in our country is still low. Now it is the same as in Chile, slightly lower than in Turkey, 2 times lower than in Europe, and 2.5 times lower than in the United States. In terms of working hours, Russia is ahead of almost all European countries, except Greece, where it is the same. For example, in Norway, the working day is 1.5 times shorter.
At the same time, labor productivity in Russia is higher than in Mexico, where the working day is even longer than ours. Despite the decree issued by the president to increase it by one and a half times (from 2011 to 2018), the growth of this indicator is still behind that in developed countries.
Why in Russia low labor productivity
The reasons for this phenomenon are obvious - technological backwardness, depreciation of equipment, poor organization of the production process, low wages, the problem of alcoholism, etc. That is, in order to implement such a decree, radical transformations in different spheres of life and economic activity are required.
Due to the high profitability, the maximum productivity in our sector falls on the oil and gas industries. There, the volume of gross product received per employee per time unit is 40 times higher than in agriculture and forestry and 7 times - than the national average.
The Tyumen region and Yakutia are leaders in labor productivity in Russia. It is also noted that in the private manufacturing sector, labor efficiency is much higher than in the budget. This is likely due to higher salaries and higher requirements for the employee, including violations of labor law.
Opinions of experts
According to M. Topilin, the quality of work correlates with the size of wages. First of all, this creates an incentive to complete the production plan. Inadequate salaries may be one of the reasons for the low labor productivity in Russia. However, there are other factors. Thus, the addiction to alcohol and tobacco, typical of many Russians, is an obstacle to increasing labor productivity in Russia. Fighting bad habits should help solve this problem.
According to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the lag in labor productivity in the Russian economy is the result of several reasons: technological backwardness, low competition, lack of economic literacy among managers, deficiencies in legislation, lack of investment and administrative barriers.
However, it is obvious that technological backwardness in our country is the main reason for this.
Thus, the growth of labor productivity in Russia is restrained due to a number of circumstances, but the contribution of each of them to the overall result is not the same.
