Productivity puzzle continues


As competition for top talent in the market intensifies, Matt Weston, Managing Director, Robert Half UK comments on ONS (Office for National Statistics) labour productivity statistics released in April 2019.

The “announcement that productivity has fallen by 0.1%, the second successive quarterly fall, serves to further complicate the UK’s ‘productivity puzzle’. While productivity is declining, intensifying competition for top talent is contributing to high rates of employment, creating a ‘buyer’s market’ for candidates with the right blend of skills.

Tackling the issue of productivity is vital to a business’ success particularly given the challenges of competing priorities when change is a constant.

“As the war for talent intensifies, tapping into a pool of highly-skilled, temporary or interim professionals – could also prove to be a valuable resource, enabling businesses the flexibility to scale their workforce in response to rapidly changing market conditions.”

SME Publications/ SME XPO 2024