India might be different

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 58, Issue 7

It is often believed that in an economic downturn, labour productivity is hit due to falling morale and motivation. However, recent evidence suggests that this is not necessarily the case – not in India at least. Employee productivity went up – only marginally – in 2008-2009.

According to research by the Sunday economic times, per-employee contribution to net income has gone up 8 percent to Rs 41,38,928 compared to 2007-2008 on aggregate basis.

Interestingly, this has happened on the back of the fact that the number of employees has gone up 7 percent to 3,30,328 during the same period.

Many experts think that the sense of security is different in India compared to the developed countries. According to Ashwin Parekh, partner at Ernst &Young, unlike countries such as Australia, there is no Social Security Act in India. So, on the loss of one’s job, one cannot approach any council for a grant. Hence, the sense of job insecurity is higher here, and during an economic slowdown, employees try hard and increase their efficiency to ensure that they do not lose their jobs.