Productivity

Productivity is the rate of production output per unit of labour worked, or the inverse of the labour time needed to produce a good. Productivity can be increased by introducing new technology in the production process. This has the effect of lowering the necessary labour to produce the same output, and thus raises the organic composition of capital. The average productivity of society as a whole determines the socially necessary labour time to produce a good.

Productivity can also refer to the intensity of the work being done. Under capitalism, workers typically don't benefit from an increase in their productivity, since this only increases the amount of surplus value that can be extracted from them, while their wage remains constant. It also raises the average productivity for other workers and can allow capitalists to fire a fraction of the workforce while raising the standard for the rest.

Since the introduction of neoliberalism in the 70s, productivity has been steadily increasing while wages remain stagnant. This is consistent with the fact that wages are not a compensation for the total work done, but for the capacity to work.