Labor productivity in Russia: real indicators

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

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 of time. It is also one of the performance indicators. 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 products produced by the worker for a certain period of time. The opposite indicator is labor intensity - the amount of labor time required to obtain a certain amount of production.

Relationship between performance and he alth

Productivity often depends on the performance of the employee. On this, in particular, the fears of scientists are based, which are that with global warming, it will begin to decline. Another negative factor may be a drop in performance due to direct physiologicaleffect of elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide. The quality of products may also depend on performance.

Types of labor productivity

There are 3 types of labor productivity:

• cash,
• actual,
• potential.

Cash is defined as the ratio of the maximum possible output to the time of ideally adjusted labor activity, during which this product is produced. 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 production output at the enterprise to the amount of labor time spent on its production. Since a person is not able to work at maximum efficiency all the time, and equipment can fail, etc., actual productivity will almost always be less than cash.

Potential productivity is determined by the ratio of the maximum theoretically possible output to the labor time spent on its production. When calculating, it is assumed that the enterprise uses the most modern technologies, materials, and the latest equipment. And the functioning of the enterpriseas coordinated as possible and does not allow breakdowns, delays in work and interruptions in the supply of materials and components.

Thus, of all kinds of labor productivity, potential productivity will have the largest value.

How to improve work efficiency

Labor productivity is not a constant value and can change under the influence of various factors. Many of them can be adjusted. Scientific and technological progress is of the greatest importance for increasing this indicator. 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. Plant coherence and flexibility in process control reduces the likelihood of downtime and supply disruptions, making it possible to more fully utilize the capabilities of existing production facilities.

Social indicators are also of great importance. Timely remuneration, a friendly and close-knit team of employees, various incentives in the form of bonuses, etc., decent wages, optimization of the work and rest regime, the ecological situation and the microclimate at the enterprise affect performance, the desire to work and produce more products, as well as on human he alth, on which performance depends.

Global labor productivity dynamics

Scientific and technological progress has led tosustainable growth of labor efficiency in many countries of the world. First of all, it concerns 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, and Germany. In the US, its maximum was in the 90s. In the 2000s, this country led in terms of productivity.

In Germany, labor productivity (per person) increased by 22.5 percent between 1991 and 2006. Based on the unit of labor time, the growth was even greater - 32.4%. The difference in figures is explained by the fact that during this period there was a decrease in the length of the working day.

The increase in labor productivity in Russia and developed countries does not always mean a comparable increase in wages. Thus, in the United States, until 1970, there was a synchronous increase in productivity and all types of wages, however, then the increase in wages began to lag behind the dynamics of productivity, and the minimum wage even decreased. This means that now more and more funds are deposited in the accounts of we althy citizens, or spent on other purposes, including the military.

Low productivity in Russia

The value of this indicator in our country is still low. Now it is the same as in Chile, somewhat lower than in Turkey, 2 times lower than in Europe, and 2.5 times lower than in the USA. In terms of working hours, Russia is ahead of almost all European countries, except for Greece,where she is. 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 presidential decree on increasing it by 1.5 times (in the period from 2011 to 2018), the growth of this indicator still lags behind that in developed countries.

Why is labor productivity low in Russia

The reasons for this phenomenon are obvious - technological backwardness, wear and tear 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 are required in various spheres of life and economic activities.

Due to high profitability, our maximum productivity falls on the oil and gas industries. There, the volume of the gross product received per worker per unit of time is 40 times higher than in agriculture and forestry and 7 times higher than the national average.

Tyumen region and Yakutia are leaders in labor productivity in Russia. It has also been noted that in the private manufacturing sector, labor efficiency is much higher than in the public one. This is likely due to higher salaries and increased demands on the employee, including violations of labor laws.

Expert opinions

According to M. Topilin, the quality of work correlates with the amount of wages. First of all, it creates an incentive to fulfill the production plan in full. Insufficient wages may be one of the reasons for low labor productivity in Russia. However, there are other factors as well. Thus, addiction to alcohol and tobacco, which is typical for many Russians, is an obstacle to increasing labor productivity in Russia. Fighting bad habits should contribute to solving this problem.

According to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the lag in labor productivity in the Russian economy is the result of a combination of several reasons: technological backwardness, low competition, lack of economic literacy of managers, flaws in legislation, lack of investment and administrative barriers.

However, it is obvious that the technological backwardness in our country is the main reason for this.

Thus, the growth of labor productivity in Russia is constrained by a number of circumstances, but the contribution of each of them to the overall result is not the same.

Lower productivity

In recent years, Russia has seen a slight downward trend in labor productivity. Thus, in 2015 it decreased by 2.2%, and in 2016 by another 0.2%. Obviously, the reason for this was the economic crisis, and in particular, the fall in oil and gas prices. The situation worsened in construction, the hotel sector, and in the extraction of raw materials. Prior to this, labor efficiency grew by about 5 percent per year, however, during the crisisIn 2009, it fell by 4%.