2 weeks ago
3
Productivity Commission, show your workings
The Productivity Commission needs to justify its constant alarmist complaints in the media about what it considers record low productivity with some clear explanations of the productivity metrics used in a contemporary knowledge economy (“Everyone is $25,000 worse off”, September 15).
How are intellectual, thinking and intangible outputs, in increasingly digitised, hybrid and flexible work environments measured with arguably outdated labour productivity metrics, quantified as units/day/worker outputs? How much do numerous repetitive meetings affect productivity, or significantly reduced travel times? How reliable and useful are all the data referenced, and how accurately do they measure effectiveness? If business is using employee surveys and qualitative data, but this process is perceived by employees as purposeless, disempowering, untrustworthy and completely disconnected from their actual work, how can this reliably measure productivity outputs? The Productivity Commission’s own productivity should be grounded in the 21st century.
Robyn Dalziell, Kellyville
Tim Gurner makes some very good points: some people have lost their work ethic, we need to see pain in the economy, we need to see unemployment rise (“Why job losses could be good for the housing industry”, September 14). The problem is that he has the wrong end of the stick. CEOs, senior management and board members of companies who cheat their customers, staff or taxpayers are those who should lose their jobs (they should also be banned from any senior management, consultancy or board positions for an extended period). Taking the inflated salaries of a few hundred or so of these executives out of the economy might just have as much effect on inflation as an extra percentage point on the unemployment rate. It would also provide an excellent opportunity for companies to diversify their management teams and for those still employed to reconsider their ethics and priorities.
Margaret Daridis, Lane Cove
