Figuratively Speaking: U.S. tops developed nations in labor productivity

Total value an average U.S. worker produces per year: $63,885

Average number of hours put in each year by a worker in the United States: 1,804

Big brands

Ranks of Coca-Cola, Sony, Toyota, Dell and Ford among the “best brands” of 2007, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of Coca-Cola in 2006: 3

Rank of Sony in 2006: 1

Number of brands appearing in the 2007 top 10 that also appeared in the top 10 in 1997: 4

Rank of Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, 3M Co., Google and The Coca-Cola Co. in Harris Interactive’s “Corporate Reputation Survey,” measuring the corporate reputations of the most visible companies in the United States: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Sharing the wealth

For every $1 that Microsoft earns in 2007, the amount of money that companies working with Microsoft will earn, according to International Data Corp.’s independent research in 82 countries, which was sponsored by Microsoft Corp.: $7.79

Estimated number of vendors in the Microsoft ecosystem: 640,000

Estimated amount these vendors will make in revenues: $425 billion

Automobile production

Number of vehicles produced worldwide in 2006, according to a study conducted by the WorldWatch Institute: 67 million

Number of years that annual car production has exceeded 67 million: 0

Percentage increase in car production in China between 2005 and 2006: 29

Innovation at work

Ranks of Apple, Google, Toyota, GE and Microsoft among the world’s top 50 most innovative companies in 2007, according to a survey conducted by BusinessWeek: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Percentage of U.S. executives who said innovation was a top priority for their companies in 2006: 32

Percentage who said the same in 2007: 23

In the garage

The estimated value of the garage and storage shed manufacturing industry in 2006, according to market research firm Specialists in Business Information in a report entitled “Garage and Storage Shed Trends in the U.S.”: $1.5 billion

Estimated value of retail sales of garage storage products – including everything from cabinets and shelves to containers and storage carts: $1 billion

Estimated value of retail sales of storage sheds: $520 million

Outsourcing issues

Ranks of efficiency (68 percent), saving time (47 percent) and saving money (31 percent) as the main reasons cited for outsourcing, according to the Empagio survey of financial and human resources executives: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of executives nationwide who report they have some concerns about outsourcing: 74

Of these executives, percentage who say a lack of responsiveness is their top concern: 43

Percentage who cite a lack of customer service: 35

Percentage who cite noncompliant reporting: 18

Temporary help

Percentage of executives who said the use of temporary workers (at one time considered a stopgap measure) now has a place in their overall human resources budgets, according to a survey developed by OfficeTeam: 71

Economic competition

Rank of the U.S. among the world’s most competitive economies, according to a survey conducted by the Swiss IMD business school that ranked 55 global economies according to 331 criteria that measure how each creates and maintains conditions favorable to business: 1

Number of years in a row the U.S. has ranked No. 1: 15

Ranks of Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Luxembourg: 2, 3, 4, 5

Workplace conditions

Estimated annual cost of workplace unfairness to U.S. employers, according to a study conducted by the Level Playing Field Institute and Korn/Ferry International: $64 billion

Approximate number of professionals and managers who leave their corporate employers each year solely because of workplace unfairness: 2 million

Percentage of employees who are staying in jobs they hate “because that is the reality of the current economy,” according to a survey by Randstad: 73

Percentage of employees who say that it is a good time to ask for a raise: 41

Idle Thought

“Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft and the only one that can be mass produced with unskilled labor.”

—Wernher von Braun, rocket engineer

John MacIntyre is an author and former city magazine editor. His “Figuratively Speaking” column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.[[In-content Ad]]