UK Workers : Least Productive in Europe

[Pedro Sánchez]

They still do want a class war, only they want the middle class to resent the working class more so now.

[magma]

That's a very crude way of working out worker efficiency, especially when GDP stats are all over the place at the moment due to a global economic crisis.

But having worked in globalised offices, it wouldn't overly shock me... we make astoundingly good procrastinators.

[seckle]

They still do want a class war, only they want the middle class to resent the working class more so now.

!!!!!
noam chomsky was seeing this as early as the 60's. global conservatism, backed by corporate control.

[MrBlack]

I had a ten year old bottle of champagne that was cracked open the day she died. We can thank her and her friends for the shit Britain we live in today.

Funny how benefit claimants are the thieves and evil doers when they can claim a fraction of what politicians earn in expenses.

[magma]

ITT: We post as if we've never discussed economics on here before.

[scspkr99]

i know full well about the g7, and yes einstein, the interesting part of this study is how England relates to the figures from Europe, not the rest of the g7.

Calm down smarty pants. And if you don't think the tories wanted a class war in the 80's you're living under a rock.

The UK tories, just like the US right wing, want to constantly manipulate the middle centrist part of society in order to underline, why they do what they do. This is exactly how they get over worldwide.

Can you point out the rest of the figures from the rest of Europe? Where's Poland, Lithuania any of the other states because I'm not seeing the references.

I was there in the 80's, I was on the picket lines at the silent night workers, I was on the picket lines for Sogat82 when news international moved to Wapping, I was there when Liverpool council ended up in the house of lords over setting an illegal rate what I am saying is that this wasn't a war started by Thatchers government in the 80's

Now what do you actually think this report says you fucking clown

[Pedro Sánchez]

ITT: We post as if we've never discussed economics on here before.

It's all bullshit these days so we might as well, even Mark Carney doesn't understand what the fuck really happens, apart from that bit where 50g appears in his account every month.

[NickUndercover]

I'd rather have a country that's less productive and has lower unemployment rates and better working conditions...

[magma]

I'd rather have a country that's less productive and has lower unemployment rates and better working conditions...

Exactly. It's a completely empty statistic. I'm a bit surprised at The Guardian tbh.

[alphacat]

I've heard it said from more than one person who's lived & worked in the UK that the institutional drinking culture in the workplace is well beyond anything that'd be tolerated many other places - the whole "go down to the pub and have 3 or 4 pints for lunch" thing. Seems to be validated by the UK tv shows as well.

TBH wish I could get away with that once in a while, but that'd never fly.

[Pedro Sánchez]

I've heard it said from more than one person who's lived & worked in the UK that the institutional drinking culture in the workplace is well beyond anything that'd be tolerated many other places - the whole "go down to the pub and have 3 or 4 pints for lunch" thing. Seems to be validated by the UK tv shows as well.

TBH wish I could get away with that once in a while, but that'd never fly.

Not sure about 3 or 4 pints a pint or 2 at a stretch, most places get lunch 30min breaks especially if it's office based. It's the spirit drinkers that are the problem.

[scspkr99]

So given that the numbers displayed on the site don't actually compare the UK with the rest of Europe merely the other European countries in the G7 I had a look at what figures there were for working hours and productivity across Europe and found this.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablo ... king-hours

Notice the second graph down for productivity, this suggests that not only is the UK not the least productive nation in the EU it isn't even lower than the EU average which dictates the baseline of 100 with the UK at 107.2. I get that this data is 2 years old but it's the most recent I can find, if it has dropped below the average we find a clue in the link seckle posted.

As with other nations, GDP per hour worked in the UK was generally on the rise until the pre-recession year of 2007, after which average productivity across the grouping stalled for a couple of years.

In contrast, UK workers' productivity actually went into decline, dropping three percentage points between 2007 and 2009.

It has got worse since then too. The average for other G7 nations is up by five percentage points since 2007 while the UK's has declined by two percentage points since then.

So I'd be interested in what the OP actually thinks these figures mean.

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

Believe. its cos everyones always pissed as a fart.

I worked at a Royal Mail sorting office and beyond 2 o'clock most were, some dangerously so.

I can imagine lol.

[magma]

I've heard it said from more than one person who's lived & worked in the UK that the institutional drinking culture in the workplace is well beyond anything that'd be tolerated many other places - the whole "go down to the pub and have 3 or 4 pints for lunch" thing. Seems to be validated by the UK tv shows as well.

TBH wish I could get away with that once in a while, but that'd never fly.

Lunchtime pints are common, but more than two would always be considered taking the piss. I've certainly known of people to be marched offsite if they've come back from lunch drunk.

You know that the French still get upset about the police not being allowed wine at lunch, right?

http://www.france24.com/en/20110421-fre ... ns-alcohol

Germans don't even bother to mention it because they don't consider a pint a lunch even relevant.

Few Western nations are as Puritan in their attitudes to alcohol as the US.

[alphacat]

Correction: few countries are as hypocritical in their attitudes towards alcohol as the US.

Even a single pint at lunch is considered - in many quarters anyway - tacky or something [in the US.] Mind you, I would disagree with that assessment but... yeah.

However: when you're talking about the mindset of a capitalist maven trying to locate a country for his next business venture, you have to admit that they tend to pander to the puritanical as well. The idea that people feel entitled to a pint at lunch would make lots of socially conservative types balk.

[scspkr99]

The Irish seem much less inclined to pints at lunch than anywhere else I've worked. When I worked in the Netherlands you could get beer in the office canteen. When I last worked in the public sector it was much more prevalent than it was in the private sector jobs either side. This wasn't due to workers in the public sector valuing their drinking more it seemed a greater reflection on bosses tendencies to go for a lunch time drink.

[kay]

Too much tea getting drunk.

[ezza]

i can believe this, especially when it comes to shit jobs and manual labour. we suck at those


went job centre the other day too and it was horrific lol bare inbreads with their butterz kids

all moaning and being shit at life

if they got a job id imagine they'd be pretty un-productive

WUT AZ HAPEND 2 ENGLUND !!!11!

[Pedro Sánchez]

WUT AZ HAPEND 2 ENGLUND !!!11!

DINT PAY BK DET OWD

[jaydot]

Believe. its cos everyones always pissed as a fart.

I worked at a Royal Mail sorting office and beyond 2 o'clock most were, some dangerously so.

I can gather, in charge of heavy machinery after too many John Smiths,