Low Productivity Not Easy To Change
August 7th, 2009
A new book ‘Employment Relations in NZ,’ by AUT employment relations Professor Erling Rasmussen says NZ’s low productivity goes back several decades and there are very real barriers to the country lifting its performance. He notes NZ is a small market trying to build a service and knowledge economy and this brings enormous and sustained challenges.
He says service industry jobs are in the main low paid, don’t establish long-term careers and are not known for good employment conditions. Across many industries, employees experience relatively low pay levels.
This means workers move off-shore for better money. Professor Rasmussen says “this low-wage route mentality doesn’t bode well for NZ’s overall productivity. The end result, no matter whether we’re in an economic boom or bust, is an unstable economy.” He says NZ’s high number of SMEs adds to the country’s underlying productivity issue. This is because “up-skilling staff through training and development is one of the few issues on which employers and unions agree but putting it into practice in an SME environment is not always realistic.” This means forging a coherent, strong lift if NZ’s productivity becomes problematic.
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