# Productivity Gains By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-08-30 Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that workers today are more productive than those of the past. Much of these gains have yet to be realized by workers. Despite all the productivity improvements, many people still work 40 hours a week (if not more) for close to the same pay. These productivity gains have enabled companies to reduce the size of their workforce and increase the compensation of those in senior positions. How could these gains have been distributed otherwise? One way would be to increase the wages of those who are working. Another way would be to reduce the labor hours of those working. As an example, if the productivity increase is a factor of four and a person made $1,000 a week for 40 hours of work, the productivity gain could be that the person now makes $4,000 a week (for 40 hours of work) or that the person works only 10 hours a week (and is paid the original salary of $1,000 a week). Of course, one could devise various alternatives between these two boundary examples. Imagine if the organization’s response to productivity gains was, we have a good thing here. These are good people. We should keep all the employees, pay them what they are currently making, and only expect them to work 10 hours a week. Is this what organizations do? No, it isn’t. Instead, they determine how many people they can fire and how low they can keep the wages of those who stay and try to maximize their salaries and bonuses. American workers are more productive. These advancements suggest that the American worker has to do increasingly more to stay where they are. #### Related Items [[Economics]] [[Work]] [[Productivity]] [[American]] [[Wealth]] [[Inequality]]