Productivity is a critical issue threatening the future competitiveness of the UK economy. In fact, recent government figures highlight the biggest gap between the UK and other leading western economies since records began in the early 1990’s. Alarmingly, the UK lags far behind the US, Germany and France. This cavity has created leeway for other businesses and nations to exploit the UK’s inefficiencies, putting the UK economy at further risk of decline.
Most economists tend to agree that productivity will remain sluggish into 2018, with no signs of marked improvement. And, although unemployment remains low, the average annual growth in output per worker has actually fallen. Yet, the TUC calls Britain’s long hours culture a national disgrace – if this is true, how did productivity become Britain’s Achilles heel?
