Australian Jobs - Productivity Race against Globalisation - Role of Smart Managers where Policy Makers Fail

While perpetual growth is not possible without trade-offs, there are many unexplored avenues that Australia has forgotten and afraid to venture despite many shocking examples of faltering economies.  


Australians are now reaping the benefits aof hard work of the 1990s and resource boom but will eventually have to pay the dues for the falling net productivity even after taking into account heavy investments in mining and unfavourable weather conditions.  


I have been quite disappointed with the lack of economic knowledge among the older seclusive folks and alienated segments of society. Many prejudicial ideas and recommendations have been circulating in the form of chain mail to keep out foreign workers and prevent outsourcing of lower value added work, thinking it will save Aussies jobs forever. It is unfortunate many have fallen for political rhetoric and no-policies approach. 


Closed doors are short sighted remedies which portend long term problems and degradation. Doing nothing will not get us any further than the river of progress.  There is no gain without any pain. We need to invest for the future regardless of what researchers may have found in other countries. It is not surprising that Australia is lagging behind in science and technology because most of us feel good in this Lucky Country and are not keen to make improvements. 


Workers with mortgage to repay and families to feed, are motivated to safeguard their jobs through self-help.  In some workplaces, middle level line managers and senior staff members are enthusiastically securing higher value work to keep themselves relevant and useful, and that which warrant their current decent salaries. 


To wait for help can take forever without visionary leaders who could rally the people behind tough policy decisions. Competition may be good in helping to raise standards but it is risky business. It is in everyone's interest to to respond with the right tools and ideas. The government, enterprises, managers and workers have to collaborate for sustainable growth to generate benefits to be shared by all. Working harder is a given, but working smarter is the key challenge for all. 


Extracts from : http://knowledge.asb.unsw.edu.au/article.cfm?articleId=1578

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    There is daily clamour in the media about lifting Australia's productivity. The rate surged in the 1990s but has now fallen well back in world rankings, according to the Productivity Commission. Employers are agitating for action to improve Australia's performance. Talk of boosting efficiency through labour flexibility has unions worried about another push for individual contracts that cut wages and the return of tougher industrial relations laws, similar to WorkChoices, the controversial legislation introduced by the previous federal government in 2006 that has since been dismantled.


     Organising the use of labour and capital more efficiently – doing more with less – is the only sustainable source of improvement to material wellbeing and increasing Australia's GDP, says Eslake.

The high per-capita incomes now enjoyed by Australians can be attributed to favourable commodity prices and thus strong terms of trade. The committee recommended the government introduce a national productivity growth agenda and a target for the medium term to 2030. It also called for more research by the Productivity Commission (PC) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with a cost-benefit analysis for any policies on productivity growth.

The Productivity Commission's submission to the inquiry argued that 70% of the recent rapid decline in the productivity cycle ending in 2003-04 was due to mining, with declining resource quality and large capital investment that has not yet translated into output. Utilities – electricity, gas and water – have been affected by reduced capital investment and reduced rainfall; and agriculture, by drought. Low spending on infrastructure, education and training, or research and development (R&D), were unlikely causes of the productivity dip, although they are important in the long run, the commission said.

A reform program is needed not only to improve the allocation of resources across the economy, but also to heighten the performance incentives for employers, while helping to enhance their organisational flexibility and capability.

Policies should favour an open and competitive economy, ongoing regulatory reform and efficient investment in human and physical capital. The first wave of market-opening reforms of the 1980s and 1990s removed many entrenched inefficiencies from the economy and provided ongoing incentives for productivity improvement. Still on the PC's "to do" list are competitive reforms in areas such as coastal shipping and aviation. Continued tariff reductions and improved competition in pervasive small business areas such as pharmacies, taxis and newsagencies are also earmarked to stimulate innovation and lower costs.

Quiggin is sceptical about this approach for the 21st century, claiming the micro-economic reforms of the 1980s have been exhausted."Technological progress is a long-term driving force that has improved our living standards," he says."What goes with that is a skilled and educated workforce that can take advantage of that technology".