Australia needs to address a productivity problem as the country approaches a multitude of demands on its workforce, according to University of Queensland business experts.
Australians have been working in record numbers for increasingly long hours, leading to a post-covid productivity slump, an Australian Government Productivity Commission report found.
UQ business experts say this must be addressed, with developments in AI, the energy transition, AUKUS, the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, the housing crisis and the growth of the care sector all expected to add demands on an already burnt-out workforce.
Dr Stefan Jooss from UQ’s Business School said with burnout rates remaining very high, it was likely relentless productivity demands were coming at a human cost.
“Maximising productivity remains a clear priority for many organisations in 2025, driven by economic pressures and advances in AI,” Dr Jooss said.
“This focus needs to be balanced cautiously with sustainable performance and employee well-being.”
The Productivity Commission report found the COVID-19 pandemic saw productivity rise to a record high between January 2020 and March 2022 before a return to pre-pandemic levels by June 2023.
The Commission found COVID-19 masked an ongoing problem with productivity in Australia and that there had been a lack of investment in equipment, tools and resources in line with a growth in hours worked.
UQ’s Business School is currently hosting visiting academic Professor Rob Briner, an organisational psychologist from Queen Mary University of London.
Professor Briner said it was important that Human Resources departments were given the resources they needed to support their workers.
“Organisations succeed or fail on human behaviour,” he said.
“The key thing is, HR departments need to be more evidence-based – they need to understand the specific issues around productivity, what is inhibiting it.
“Generally speaking, employee behaviour is determined by the way they are managed – including how jobs and roles are designed, training and recruiting the right people.
“What I never hear in this discussion is, ‘What about the quality of the way we manage people?’
“If you are doing that really well, a lot of those productivity issues disappear.”
Professor Briner will be involved in a series of seminars with UQ’s Business School.
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