Americans become less productive, a risk to U.S. economy: NPR

Xia Lin - NPR  © Provided by XINHUA

A security guard stands outside a store on Times Square in New York, the United States, Feb. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

An economic ennui has settled in among workers after the experiences of the last few years.

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. workforce is not as productive as just a year ago, and this could in the end have a profound effect on the country's well-being, the National Public Radio (NPR) last week cited economists.

This year, U.S. productivity is down 4.1 percent on an annualized basis, the biggest decline since the government started keeping track of the number back in 1948. Since then, it had been on a steady upward slope. Until now.

An economic ennui has settled in among workers after the experiences of the last few years, said Julia Pollak, chief economist with ZipRecruiter, and that ennui is showing up in the numbers.

Nearly 20 million people were laid off in a matter of weeks as the pandemic took hold, regardless of whether they had strong work ethics, good performance or loyalty to a company, according to the report.

Then the economic winds shifted just months later, and companies were suddenly desperate to hire. Firings and layoffs reached historic lows. Existing employees were often worked to the point of burnout, newbies with less experience were brought on at a higher wage and employers overlooked things that could have cost workers their jobs in the past.

Workers came away from all of this feeling like the connection between working hard and being rewarded was broken, Pollak said, noting that "that's really discouraging to top performers." ■