Maybe it's because all the younger generations really are smarter than mine (boomer). For most of my 50 years in the workforce, I was told:

• I was lucky to have a job (justification for low wages, small raises, and no raises)
• I had to go along to get along (justification for shitty working conditions, some of which contravened labour law and safety regulations)
• I had to work hard to get ahead (justification for perpetual short staffing, stupid shifts, and excessive overtime)
• I had to prove myself to get promotions (actually do the work of the next level up without the next level pay)
• Training and certifications were for my benefit or just the cost of getting in the door (justification for the gutting and even elimination of on-the-job and employer-sponsored training as well as not having higher pay to go with more training and education)

For most of my working life, I took my father's advice to demand both my legal rights and my human dignity at great cost to my employment success. The 15 years I tried it "the right way" just left me exploited and burned out.

If falling productivity is a result of people finally demanding that laws and human dignity be not just respected but honoured and advanced, then I say let it fall.

I've heard people say that maybe it's time to reset productivity expectations or even redefine what is meant by productivity.

I think they make good cases for those things, but maybe it's time for, I don't know, something so radical as to be unthinkable. Like maybe it's time for the business community to look inward for the problem.