The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on everything from family life, education and the economy. It is the latter which I will be focussing on, in the form of productivity.
As productivity is the economic output per hour of work, high productivity will have a positive knock-on effect on the economy. Living standards can rise, GDP can be rise and wages can rise. This can prove immensely important in our economic recovery from the pandemic. Unfortunately, our United Kingdom’s productivity is shocking.
The UK ranked 31st out of the 35 OECD countries in growth per output hour from 2008 to 2017. However, we rank highly for ICT-intensive employment. In this sector, productivity growth has been the strongest overall. So, it is surprising that the UK’s productivity is so low. In comparison to the G7 countries, our productivity is 16% lower than average.
Top companies achieve the fastest productivity growth, but even this is decelerating. It is clear that this long-term issue will have a deleterious impact on our economy- unless we do something about it.
The COVID-19 pandemic had seen a shift in jobs and the economy. Online retail, working from home and increased technological connectivity have all increased. If we exploit the technology we have at our fingertips, we can really make a change regarding our productivity. It is time to unleash our potential. it is time to pay a tribute to Industrial Revolution Britain and put our country at the forefront of innovation and skill.
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