The Smith Institute survey of trade union members asked whether respondents thought they were working \u201charder\u201d and whether they were more productive than two years ago. Given the ambiguity over the term \u201cworking harder\u201d and the unrepresentative sample used, caution should be drawn on the relationship between hours worked and productivity.<\/p>
However, ONS data indicate that between 2010 and 2015 the total number of hours worked per week in the UK economy has increased by 8.4%1<\/sup>. The vast majority of the increase, around 80%, came from higher employment. While the remainder did come from increased average hours this in part reflects a reduction in the share of part-time work.<\/p> It has been this significant increase in the number of people employed that has driven growth in the UK economy in recent years. The challenge now is to ensure the UK continues to grow through rising productivity. The government\u2019s \u2018Fixing the Foundations\u2019 productivity plan, sets out an ambitious vision and the pro-productivity agenda designed to meet this challenge. Productivity, measured as output per hour worked, increased by 1.0% in 2015 as a whole \u2013 the largest annual increase since 2011.<\/p> References<\/p> 1. ONS UK Labour Market (March 2016): Actual weekly hours worked (seasonally adjusted)<\/p>