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.... and low labour productivity springs from horrible education...not horrible roads. Time for Jamaica to get its priorities straight, our trading partners have long done so.
Productivity and poverty
JAMES MOSS-SOLOMON
Sunday, November 07, 2010
I wish to extend my sympathy to the family of the late Norma Shirley, a pioneer of culinary art in Jamaica and other places in the world. Also, as a person who changed her original career in order to pursue her love and dream, she deserves all accolades. May her family and friends enjoy the fond memories of this lady who dared to dream.
Many of us dream but lack the strength of our convictions, and so we remain mired in a situation that speaks loudly of a need to change. Statistics show that we are much poorer than we were 30 years ago, and our confusion with the real value of money allows us to believe that a million dollars today is more than a thousand in the past. So money confuses us into believing that we are working more and producing greater outputs than we really are.
The publication Jamaica: Productivity Summary Report 1972-2007, by the Jamaica Productivity Centre, is so important that it should be required reading for all Jamaicans, especially the public and private sector management and employees. It states: "Labour productivity or output per worker has been declining at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent over the past 34 years (1973-2007). For the past five years (2003-2007) this decline has increased to 1.8 per cent per annum."
This flies in the face of the period of world history that has seen the most explosive growth of technology in human history. The fact that we are not beneficiaries of these developments points to our reluctance to harness technological improvements at home. I guess the cellphone will have to be discounted as a feature of social and economic growth, as it really is an idler's tool for time wasting.
The statistics also compare most unfavourably with the figures achieved by our Caricom partners who have shown improvements of 1.5 per cent per annum from 1972, and by a rate of two per cent in the last 10 years. The report states: "In 1997 the average worker in Trinidad was three times more productive than the average Jamaican worker. However, this gap had widened to over five times by 2007".
As an aside I note the resentment of our public towards Trinidad and Tobago manufacturers, and our willingness to discuss consumer boycotts of their products, rather than examine the factors of our own laxity. The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago may have spoken less delicately than she could have, but the reality is that if they did our reconstruction work, with their efficiency standards, a considerable labour saving could be achieved in the Caribbean. Our money (or theirs) would stretch further.
To the layman their figures simply mean that we are satisfied with the illusion of progress as expounded by our politicians, who talk arrant nonsense about our "great achievements" in social progress. The love of the proverbial "poor" as espoused by the opposition leader is definitely directed towards a rapidly growing constituency. The recent "confession" by the mayor of Kingston and St Andrew, and JLP deputy leader about the two major parties, is recognition of the major factor that has helped us to rationalise and institutionalise the expansion of poverty and degradation.
The report goes on to state: "In the last 10 years (1998-2007) only Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing and Electricity, Gas and Water recorded positive growth in labour productivity. The worst trend in labour productivity was observed in Construction and Installation which declined, on average, by 3.4 per cent annually". To take "bad things and make joke", this means it takes considerably more Jamaicans to either screw in or "tief" a Cuban light bulb.
Realistically we must accept a few simple truths about our lack of performance. In the first instance the basic training and education of the workforce is the responsibility of parents, the Government and the school system. This is the basic pool from which we have to choose in order to promote the growth, development and profit that are the lifeblood of social improvement.
Secondly, the responsibility for specific performance, on-the-job training, and the proper integration of capital and labour are management responsibilities. This vital fact needs to be recognised, for the reality is that we have really poor managers whose focus is on selfish short-term goals, as they lack the abilities needed to produce sustainable growth.
This is one reason why the financial sector is so attractive to many of our young people as it offers an ability to be rotating "flash in the pan" heroes, who then move to the next company, leaving crap and confusion in their wake. Poor souls. For after completing a full rotation they have no choice but migration, or to start their own business and hope to sell it quickly. So much for a few more Olint and other "financial" schemes that seek to deliver super profits while producing nothing.
Management continues to cry for incentives, tax relief, lower interest rates, and promise growth in return. I am not objecting to these, but they should be carefully monitored for sustainability and comparison to relevant international standards. The reward should be for efficiency, and should not support wasteful complacency. So let's reward five million tourism stopovers, or massive increases in profitable exports, instead of awarding benefits for promises that end up with no better capital utilisation, or increased labour productivity, but which greatly increase the number of SUVs and debt.
There are only a few companies in Jamaica that have shown continuous growth in constant dollars over the past 35 years. Certainly sales and profits may be up in Jamaican dollars, but that is an illusion. When I was at school a shilling would buy icy mints for three forms, at eight for a penny. Nowadays your change can't even be given in sweeties, as these are too high in value. In 1974 my salary was J$6,500 per annum, and that could buy three motor cars for cash.
Today I am a lot poorer, and it is getting worse. Now, a car is bling today and repossessed tomorrow, and the bus service is no longer seen as a workable alternative as we are poor but too proud and we would rather hide from our creditors than be seen taking public transportation. We therefore hide from the truth instead of "wheel and come again" and, in the interim, we check our previously discounted "dunce cousin" in the USA to file for us and we are willing to take more "lowly" positions there but not here. Oh, how we the once mighty have fallen prey to false pride and prejudice!
We have fallen to continually repeated promises that are never delivered. We have fallen to the propaganda that the rest of the world is fighting against us. We have fallen to the drug-induced bliss that warps our minds into believing that things will be alright, and "everything is everything". We make believe that we are all working so hard, and deserve a long lunch with a Scotch, or a "spliff" as an interim reward for our genius.
We fool ourselves into believing the bus drivers and taxi operators have a right to break the road traffic laws without sanction, as they "have fi mek money". We think that it is the rapacious banks that drive up the cost of housing, and that the workman smoking the spliff under the mango tree is in no way responsible for extending a three-month construction period to 18 months.
We think that prayers will stop our gully from eroding the foundation of our homes in heavy rain, and that continued and growing unemployment will slow down the advance of crime. We really think that the world will continue to be our best friend, when we are our own worst enemy. This is the nature of an opiate on our people at home and we fail to see that this is a major impediment. Listen to the stories and voices of our Diaspora, and learn some of the truth about survival in a competitive world, because things are tough everywhere and for many, failure is not an option.
If you don't believe me, then ask President Obama after last week's rude awakening. Get it right or get out is a strong message to give a leader, especially unfortunate as he did not create the world mess. But the job of leaders is to lead and take responsibility, and to produce measurable results.
More poverty is not an option, and the solution is productivity, and a willingness to change. So Government, management, and employees, get the message straight. The time for excuses has long passed, it is now time to either do something or flounder, or as the Americans would say, "Take a crap or get off the pot."
Productivity and poverty
JAMES MOSS-SOLOMON
Sunday, November 07, 2010
I wish to extend my sympathy to the family of the late Norma Shirley, a pioneer of culinary art in Jamaica and other places in the world. Also, as a person who changed her original career in order to pursue her love and dream, she deserves all accolades. May her family and friends enjoy the fond memories of this lady who dared to dream.
Many of us dream but lack the strength of our convictions, and so we remain mired in a situation that speaks loudly of a need to change. Statistics show that we are much poorer than we were 30 years ago, and our confusion with the real value of money allows us to believe that a million dollars today is more than a thousand in the past. So money confuses us into believing that we are working more and producing greater outputs than we really are.
The publication Jamaica: Productivity Summary Report 1972-2007, by the Jamaica Productivity Centre, is so important that it should be required reading for all Jamaicans, especially the public and private sector management and employees. It states: "Labour productivity or output per worker has been declining at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent over the past 34 years (1973-2007). For the past five years (2003-2007) this decline has increased to 1.8 per cent per annum."
This flies in the face of the period of world history that has seen the most explosive growth of technology in human history. The fact that we are not beneficiaries of these developments points to our reluctance to harness technological improvements at home. I guess the cellphone will have to be discounted as a feature of social and economic growth, as it really is an idler's tool for time wasting.
The statistics also compare most unfavourably with the figures achieved by our Caricom partners who have shown improvements of 1.5 per cent per annum from 1972, and by a rate of two per cent in the last 10 years. The report states: "In 1997 the average worker in Trinidad was three times more productive than the average Jamaican worker. However, this gap had widened to over five times by 2007".
As an aside I note the resentment of our public towards Trinidad and Tobago manufacturers, and our willingness to discuss consumer boycotts of their products, rather than examine the factors of our own laxity. The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago may have spoken less delicately than she could have, but the reality is that if they did our reconstruction work, with their efficiency standards, a considerable labour saving could be achieved in the Caribbean. Our money (or theirs) would stretch further.
To the layman their figures simply mean that we are satisfied with the illusion of progress as expounded by our politicians, who talk arrant nonsense about our "great achievements" in social progress. The love of the proverbial "poor" as espoused by the opposition leader is definitely directed towards a rapidly growing constituency. The recent "confession" by the mayor of Kingston and St Andrew, and JLP deputy leader about the two major parties, is recognition of the major factor that has helped us to rationalise and institutionalise the expansion of poverty and degradation.
The report goes on to state: "In the last 10 years (1998-2007) only Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing and Electricity, Gas and Water recorded positive growth in labour productivity. The worst trend in labour productivity was observed in Construction and Installation which declined, on average, by 3.4 per cent annually". To take "bad things and make joke", this means it takes considerably more Jamaicans to either screw in or "tief" a Cuban light bulb.
Realistically we must accept a few simple truths about our lack of performance. In the first instance the basic training and education of the workforce is the responsibility of parents, the Government and the school system. This is the basic pool from which we have to choose in order to promote the growth, development and profit that are the lifeblood of social improvement.
Secondly, the responsibility for specific performance, on-the-job training, and the proper integration of capital and labour are management responsibilities. This vital fact needs to be recognised, for the reality is that we have really poor managers whose focus is on selfish short-term goals, as they lack the abilities needed to produce sustainable growth.
This is one reason why the financial sector is so attractive to many of our young people as it offers an ability to be rotating "flash in the pan" heroes, who then move to the next company, leaving crap and confusion in their wake. Poor souls. For after completing a full rotation they have no choice but migration, or to start their own business and hope to sell it quickly. So much for a few more Olint and other "financial" schemes that seek to deliver super profits while producing nothing.
Management continues to cry for incentives, tax relief, lower interest rates, and promise growth in return. I am not objecting to these, but they should be carefully monitored for sustainability and comparison to relevant international standards. The reward should be for efficiency, and should not support wasteful complacency. So let's reward five million tourism stopovers, or massive increases in profitable exports, instead of awarding benefits for promises that end up with no better capital utilisation, or increased labour productivity, but which greatly increase the number of SUVs and debt.
There are only a few companies in Jamaica that have shown continuous growth in constant dollars over the past 35 years. Certainly sales and profits may be up in Jamaican dollars, but that is an illusion. When I was at school a shilling would buy icy mints for three forms, at eight for a penny. Nowadays your change can't even be given in sweeties, as these are too high in value. In 1974 my salary was J$6,500 per annum, and that could buy three motor cars for cash.
Today I am a lot poorer, and it is getting worse. Now, a car is bling today and repossessed tomorrow, and the bus service is no longer seen as a workable alternative as we are poor but too proud and we would rather hide from our creditors than be seen taking public transportation. We therefore hide from the truth instead of "wheel and come again" and, in the interim, we check our previously discounted "dunce cousin" in the USA to file for us and we are willing to take more "lowly" positions there but not here. Oh, how we the once mighty have fallen prey to false pride and prejudice!
We have fallen to continually repeated promises that are never delivered. We have fallen to the propaganda that the rest of the world is fighting against us. We have fallen to the drug-induced bliss that warps our minds into believing that things will be alright, and "everything is everything". We make believe that we are all working so hard, and deserve a long lunch with a Scotch, or a "spliff" as an interim reward for our genius.
We fool ourselves into believing the bus drivers and taxi operators have a right to break the road traffic laws without sanction, as they "have fi mek money". We think that it is the rapacious banks that drive up the cost of housing, and that the workman smoking the spliff under the mango tree is in no way responsible for extending a three-month construction period to 18 months.
We think that prayers will stop our gully from eroding the foundation of our homes in heavy rain, and that continued and growing unemployment will slow down the advance of crime. We really think that the world will continue to be our best friend, when we are our own worst enemy. This is the nature of an opiate on our people at home and we fail to see that this is a major impediment. Listen to the stories and voices of our Diaspora, and learn some of the truth about survival in a competitive world, because things are tough everywhere and for many, failure is not an option.
If you don't believe me, then ask President Obama after last week's rude awakening. Get it right or get out is a strong message to give a leader, especially unfortunate as he did not create the world mess. But the job of leaders is to lead and take responsibility, and to produce measurable results.
More poverty is not an option, and the solution is productivity, and a willingness to change. So Government, management, and employees, get the message straight. The time for excuses has long passed, it is now time to either do something or flounder, or as the Americans would say, "Take a crap or get off the pot."
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