SKILLS WORLD LIVE: SHOULD BRITS WORK HARDER, OR SMARTER?

Partners:

The new prime minister, Liz Truss, has been accused by opponents of attacking British-born workers’ productivity record, when she said that they need to put in ‘a bit more graft’. It comes at a time when the Home Office issued a record 1.1million skilled worker visas to overseas applicants last year. Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg, in his previous role as government efficiency minister, claimed that civil servants often use flexitime arrangements to skive off work.

Do these accusations paint Britain as the ‘sick man of Europe’ again? Post-pandemic, with more people working from home and others being paid the same salary while moving to a four-day week, are we fast turning into a nation of shirkers?

Official data shows that UK labour productivity is below that of the US and Germany in the G7. Compared to the period 1997-2009, where average growth in output per hour worked was 1.9 per cent, the corresponding average annual growth since then has been just 0.7 per cent – below the G7 average. Paradoxically, more people are in work than ever with employers reporting record vacancies and skills shortages. How do we solve this productivity puzzle?

Join Tom Bewick, presenter of the Skills World Live Radio Show, who will be recording a special edition of his award winning podcast, which includes a great line up of panel guests.

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