US corporations squeezing more output from workers and paying lower wages

[Karmadillo]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/usla-a12.shtml

US corporations squeezing more output from workers and paying lower wages
By Patrick O’Connor
12 August 2009

US Labor Department data released yesterday showed productivity up 6.4 percent in the second quarter, the largest gain since 2003 and higher than economists’ forecasts of 5.5 percent. Over the same period, workers’ compensation fell sharply.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics explained that productivity—which measures hourly output per employee—increased “due to hours worked declining faster than output.”

In other words, big business is using the rise in unemployment to extract greater output from employed workers through speedup and other forms of intensified exploitation.

Nonfarm productivity rose 6.4 percent as a result of output declining by 1.7 percent and total hours worked plummeting 7.6 percent.

Data also showed that real hourly employee compensation fell by 1.1 percent in the second quarter, or by 2.2 percent on an annualized basis. The combined impact of declining wages and rising productivity brought unit labor costs down by a huge 5.8 percent in the three months from April to June.

In manufacturing, quarterly productivity rose 5.3 percent, a result of output falling by 9.9 percent and hours by 14.4 percent. In the durable manufacturing sub-category, the output and hours decline was even greater—16.5 percent and 19.6 percent respectively.

The recent productivity boost, unlike that seen in previous periods, has involved no developments in productive technique. Mark Vitner of Wells Fargo Bank told Dow Jones Newswire that the second quarter gain “is almost entirely the result of cost-cutting, not improved ways of producing goods and providing services.”

Several commentators frankly admitted that the productivity boost was the product of intensified pressure on the working class. In a comment for Dow Jones’ MarketWatch, Tom Bernis wrote: “Anybody lucky enough to hang onto his or her job in this recession is working flat out to keep it. That’s one take on the latest US productivity numbers...

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[Mythsaje]

1. Yeah, I spotted this on the MSN site this morning...

No surprise to me. They like to tell us we're lazy, but, well, NOT.

[seeviewonder]

2. I think this has been the case for a long time.

The minimum wage we have is a sick joke. I still work for minimum wage and it is not nearly enough to provide for my family. I am just working on finishing my bachelors degree as soon as possible. The rich get richer...

[cascadiance]

3. H-1B program needs to be heavily scaled back if not taken down...

[TahitiNut]

4. The same pressure on current workers allows them to delay hiring, thus prolonging high rates ...

... of unemployment. This is an insidious practice that must be stopped.

[juno jones]

5. They've also got us working alone on shifts that once

took two or more people.

And when you find a way to save some time and lighten the load a little, they pile another employee's job on you.

I don't know who is fortunate or unfortunate here; the unemployed cooling their heels or the still-working who are being literally worked to death.

[Karmadillo]

6. It's not easy being a neo-serf these days.

nt