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Wage growth is outpacing inflation. High productivity is the key to sustaining that.

Oct 31, 2024
There's good reason to believe productivity will stay strong. When the labor market was tight, employers invested in upgrades.
U.S. workers have been more productive, and they've reaped a share of the economic gains.
The Washington Post/Getty Images

The soft job market has a silver lining: Productivity is up, and that helps the economy grow

Sep 26, 2024
We're making and doing more stuff in fewer hours.
Investment in advanced manufacturing is one reason productivity has increased in the U.S. Above, a fiber-optic manufacturing facility in North Carolina.
Travis Dove for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Amid gas stove debate, manufacturers hope the induction market will heat up

Mar 6, 2023
Manufacturers are ramping up production of induction stoves and cooktops, which use electromagnetism to heat pots and pans. But there's a reason the technology hasn't caught on.
Cities like Seattle, LA and New York have moved to ban natural gas appliance hookups in new construction homes.
John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

For restaurants, tough pandemic decisions are starting to pay off

Jun 1, 2021
Restaurants had to make hard choices over the last year to stay alive –– choices that, it turns out, made them more efficient.
Restaurant owners have had  to let go of many employees, but they've also made their production processes speedier and with less employee-customer contact. Which of these changes will stick?
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Productivity is poised to rise. Finally.

Feb 21, 2018
Labor productivity, a measure of how efficient workers are, hasn’t been improving in recent years. That has caused worry among economists, because worker productivity has a big impact on economic growth. Well, times may be a-changing. The McKinsey Global Institute is out with a new report that says this era of low productivity growth might […]

Showing up to work tired is just like showing up to work drunk

Nov 6, 2013
The average American sleeps an hour and a half less per night than she used to -- and that's costing employers $63 billion a year.

380 ways to make the government more efficient (Video)

May 15, 2013
A Senate committee on governmental affairs looks at 380 ways “to make Washington more efficient.” What’s likely to be the fate of this cost-cutting initiative?

For public good, not for profit.

The Internet is coming to your car, watch, and dishwater, but can our systems handle it?

Apr 26, 2013
The Internet is powered by vast banks of computers which chew up energy. That's a big cost for the people who run these servers -- and the earth, depending on how all the electricity is generated.

More sharing for greater efficiency

Jun 29, 2012
Social media and smartphones are fueling a "sharing economy," where freedom from possession trumps ownership.

Is Delta really "Flying Greener?"

Feb 8, 2010
I recently got back from an international vacation. I don't usually read in-flight magazines, but I spied a headline while my neighbor perused his...