Jamaica must Reverse Decline in Labour Productivity – Douglas

Executive Director of the Jamaica Productivity Centre, Dr. Charles Douglas, has said that Jamaica must reverse the decline in labour productivity to achieve sustained regional and international competitiveness.
“When you look at labour activity and output per worker per hour, what you find is that there has been some slippage as far as Jamaica is concerned relative to some of our main trading partners, so it is essential that we return to productivity growth in Jamaica to be able to compete,” he stated.
Dr. Douglas, who was addressing a recent JIS News Think Tank, pointed out that increasing productivity was particularly important, in light of the CARICOM Single Market. “The only way we can enjoy and benefit from this kind of market relationship and actually compete is if we improve productivity. The new market relationship is certainly not a panacea unless we step up our productivity,” he stated.
Data from the Centre indicate that between 1950 to 2000, Jamaica had a 1.5 per cent average annual rate of labour productivity growth, which indicates that it would take 47 years for output per worker to double, Dr. Douglas said.
This is low when compared to the performance of Trinidad and Tobago, he said, where labour productivity grew at an average annual rate of 3.1 per cent during the same period and it would take 23 years for output per worker in that country to double.
“It should not be surprising that if output per worker is growing faster in one country than another then that country will have a higher standard of living,” Dr. Douglas pointed out, noting that, “we need to realise that we have not been doing well in this regard and as such we need to work harder to develop that kind of productivity conscious culture in Jamaica”.
Meanwhile, he suggested that firms should reduce waste and replace old technology, with new and efficient ones, as part of measures to increase productivity.
“You go to some factories and you see them utilising technology that is more than a hundred years old. You cannot compete in 2006 using these types of equipment,” Dr. Douglas argued.
He noted also that the layout of plants affected output. “If you have workers tumbling over each other, there is a problem, so you have to look critically at how operating processes work,” he urged. “It is simply things like these and others which help to improve productivity,” he added.
As for those workers who have the attitude that they are not working harder because they are not going to benefit, Dr. Douglas said that they are misguided.
“When you look at it, it is not true. There are some companies that have instituted a productivity link and weight system, where they compensate their workers based upon improvement in productivity and this makes for further improvement in productivity,” he elaborated.
National Productivity Awareness Week will be observed from September 3 to 8. Activities for the week will kick off with a church service at the Stella Maris Church beginning at 9:00 a.m.