Re:Understanding the Historic Divergence Between Productivit...
by bjourne on Friday September 04, 2015 @03:58AM
(#10169246)
> I suspect that productivity simply isn't increasing for a lot of jobs. Such as janitorial services - there's no automation there, the janitor with a mop and a bucket is doing the same thing he's done for decades.
I don't think that is true. Look at the tech and machinery a janitor uses to day vs what would have been used in the 70's. Plus, nowadays buildings are often designed to make janitorial work in them as efficient as possible. There are certainly many fewer janitors / m^2 building area today than in the 70's so in a way you can janitors productivity has increased a lot.
In my apartment a water pipe broke recently which required immediate attention from a repairman otherwise it would have caused a flood. The closest one working standby which was dispatched by the landlord was over 20 km away. So for an apartment population of 200k+ you have only 2-3 repairmen servicing emergency problems. That's incredibly efficient.
I don't think that is true. Look at the tech and machinery a janitor uses to day vs what would have been used in the 70's. Plus, nowadays buildings are often designed to make janitorial work in them as efficient as possible. There are certainly many fewer janitors / m^2 building area today than in the 70's so in a way you can janitors productivity has increased a lot.
In my apartment a water pipe broke recently which required immediate attention from a repairman otherwise it would have caused a flood. The closest one working standby which was dispatched by the landlord was over 20 km away. So for an apartment population of 200k+ you have only 2-3 repairmen servicing emergency problems. That's incredibly efficient.