Member-only story
Which Country Has Better Productivity? Japan? USA? Somewhere in Europe?
Since I live and work in Japan, let’s start with that.
Stories of Japanese “salary men” working long into the evening hours abound. Deaths due overwork and overstress even have a name — “karoshi” — death by overwork.
But do these long hours really equate to an increase in productivity? Do Japan’s worker bees really put out more product per person than other countries?
Not so, says an article in The Economist.
If we just look at economic output an average worker in the USA will produce about $171,000 in economic output. And according to the International Monetary Fund, the US economy continues to grow and companies keep hiring. (Although at a much lower rate in October 2024.)
The same type of worker in Japan will only generate 56% of that amount, or about $96,000.
Even the European counterparts outpace Japan, but are lower than the USA workers, coming in at $120,000.
The Economist goes on to say that American productivity has nothing to do with having fewer worker holidays. They broke it down to a per hour basis that shows American productivity growth was 73% since 1990 v Japan’s 55% growth.
