Page 2 - Labour Cost

US labour activists push for $20 per hr minimum wage as inflation persists

Just years after labour activists persuaded a handful of states to raise their minimum wage to USD 15 per hour, workers initially thrilled with the pay bump are finding their hard-won gains erased by inflation. New York City resident Anthony Rivera, 20, who sorts packages at a United Parcel Service facility in Brooklyn, said he had to take a second job at a grocery store after his food costs soared. I was sitting at USD 15 an hour at UPS, and when it came to paying bills and buying groceries, it was starting to become not enough, he said. That led me to no other option than to pick up another job. New York, California and Massachusetts are among states where pro-labour forces are now pushing proposals that, if approved, would boost minimum wages to USD 20 or more in the coming years. Inflation has meant that something that cost USD 15 in 2012 when labour activists adopted the Fight for USD 15 slogan in a push for wage hikes would probably cost almost USD 20 today, according to th

Scaling the export competitiveness ladder: What should India do?

It is possible to rapidly climb the export competitiveness ladder and our vast labour force with low unit labour cost coupled with current global geopolitical conditions affords us the opportunity

Labour quality can trump quantity

Availability of industrial labour is less of a challenge than widely believed. Parents with fewer children have healthier and more educated ones

Does China plus one strategy mean advantage India?

Gradual increase in labour costs in China has prompted companies to look for alternative destinations. Can India reap the benefits of its demographic dividend? Will it score over its SE Asian rivals?

China plus one: Low labour costs and growing workforce give India the edge

A large and abundant workforce also gives it an edge against South East Asian rivals

Greenfield construction cost for developers up 5-7% in Q3 2022: Report

Labour cost increased 8-10% and reinforcement steel prices went up about 20%, says study scanning cities

The rise and rise of conversational AI: What is it and how does it work?

Automating routine and transactional interactions such as account management, order confirmations, returns, and address change with smart bots is on the rise.

Stuck in time warp, UP's carpet hub refuses to be swept under the rug

An industry, unravelling: Work is demanding, pay just enough

Fall in rural wage, labour crunch in urban areas hit construction sector

Corporate players are expecting construction activity to pick up during the current quarter

US labour costs rise strongly in Q4 last year, fastest in 2 decades

US labour costs rose strongly in the fourth quarter of last year, wrapping up the biggest one-year gain of labour inflation in two decades

US productivity drops at 4.8% rate in Dec quarter while labour costs rose

U.S. productivity fell sharply in the October-December quarter while labor costs rose.

Doing away with rigidity in labour laws will boost jobs: Minister Gangwar

The minister said that the laws protect the workers' right to strike and it has not been "taken away from them in any manner

Fourth tweak in social security Bill likely to cover more workers

The current social security laws in India exclude about 90 per cent of the workforce - mainly in the unorganised sector.

Many manufacturing companies weighed labour cost cuts even before lockdown

Salary and wage bill for manufacturers was down around 1% YoY in Jan-Mar

Liquidity, labour and logistics are the key challenges: JSW Steel's Rao

Ensuring return of labour as important as sending them back home, says Seshagiri Rao

7 ways to revive India's labour market and livelihoods in post-Covid world

It is important to plan how to deal with the economic fallout and rebuild a more inclusive economy in a post-Covid-19 world, and much of that hinges on how we revive labour markets and livelihoods

A lesson to learn: Economic problems can have counter-intuitive solutions

From drug price ceiling to additional duties on steel imports and export ban to counter onion shortage - govt response to several problems shows the lessons may not have been learnt, writes T N Ninan

Best of BS Opinion: Maharashtra govt formation, tax buoyancy, and more

Opinion and analysis on telecom companies' decision to raise tariffs and the way the government is responding to slowdown.

Boost labour income to revive growth

The principal demand impetus for growth comes from the bottom half of income distribution

Corporate India had an extraordinary 2018-19, but their real wage rate fell

In last 6 years, wages have grown at an average 10% a year within a narrow range of 9-12% per year. During this period, sales have grown at an average annual rate of 6% in wider range from -3% to +17%