Good points. I'd add another factor: poor organization can crush measures of per-person productivity, not because individual workers are exerting more or less effort, but because of bottlenecks, duplication, and general mismanagement. One outfit can be running around frantically 24/7 trying to fix the latest breakdown, with resulting low productivity, and another can just be humming along, calm and relaxed, but more productive overall because their systems are better designed.
Case example: the airline industry took COVID bailout money and used it for stock buybacks, while laying off large numbers of pilots and other employees due to low demand for air travel at the height of the pandemic. As demand surged recently, more and more flights were canceled (~75% decrease in number of flights) and this created a huge revenue drop so technically, 'productivity per worker' declined. Layoffs resulted in a 'increase in per-worker productivity', but now, mnay airlines don't have the necessary staff to run their businesses smoothly, so their revenue is suffering, passengers flights are getting cancelled, and labor is calling for strikes.
Case example: the airline industry took COVID bailout money and used it for stock buybacks, while laying off large numbers of pilots and other employees due to low demand for air travel at the height of the pandemic. As demand surged recently, more and more flights were canceled (~75% decrease in number of flights) and this created a huge revenue drop so technically, 'productivity per worker' declined. Layoffs resulted in a 'increase in per-worker productivity', but now, mnay airlines don't have the necessary staff to run their businesses smoothly, so their revenue is suffering, passengers flights are getting cancelled, and labor is calling for strikes.
Gross mismanagement 101.