One of the great economic mysteries of the moment is why worker productivity, particularly in the US, is falling.
Some economists say that it’s simply a correction from the unsustainably hard work that many of us did during the Covid-19 pandemic. But there was a productivity dip after the Great Recession, as well. And while there are certainly big long-term factors at play here, such as the failure of education to keep up with technology (which in turn reduces productivity) I think there are other, under-explored issues. These include the rise of shadow work.
Shadow work is a term that was coined by the Austrian philosopher and social critic Ivan Illich in 1981. For him, it included all the unpaid work done in economies, such as mothering and housekeeping. But more recently, the term has expanded to include the work that companies have been able to turn over to their own customers, via technology.