[OPE] Limits of lean production in the US?

WSJ September 20, 2010.

Limits of Productivity Growth Bode Well for Jobs

By JUSTIN LAHART (Associate Editor)

Companies are having a harder time boosting productivity. For now, that is
probably a good thing. Productivity, as measured by output per hour, grew at
a breakneck pace last year as businesses sought to get as much work out of
as few people as possible. This year that growth slowed, and then screeched
into reverse. That's a sign that many companies are reaching the limit of
how much they can get their workers to do. In other words, they might
actually have to start hiring more.

"Businesses were able to squeeze their work forces, but that wasn't
sustainable," said Michelle Meyer, economist at Bank of America Merrill
Lynch. Even with her forecast of the economy growing at a sluggish pace in
the remainder of this year, she reckons that companies are so lean they'll
have to increase hiring. (...) The key to that strong productivity boom of
the early 2000s was companies' heavy spending on new equipment and software
in the late 1990s. Labor-saving technology like online ticketing and
check-in kiosks, for example, allowed airlines to operate with far fewer
employees than before.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704858304575497942728583462.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_MIDDLEThirdNews

I wonder where Justin gets the evidence from that online ticketing is
responsible for the reduction of the airlines workforce?

J.

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Received on Mon Sep 20 08:46:02 2010