Factors Affecting the Labour Productivity in Construction Projects of Pakistan

Abstract

Construction projects are considered crucial in every developed and developing country from the perspective of economic and social development. Thus, it is mandatory to achieve successful completion of the project. Efficient production is one of the significant criteria in ensuring the success of projects. An efficient production, labour productivity is considered an important aspect. Labour productivity is affected by several factors which are essential to study for productivity improvements. Since in Pakistan, labour productivity is one of the least studied areas within the construction industry. Hence, this paper focused on determining the common factors which have influenced the labour productivity. A survey among the construction practitioners included 33 identified factors from literature. A total of 150 questionnaire forms were distributed, and only 54 completed data forms were received back. These forms were used to analyse statistically using frequency analysis with SPSS software and weighted average (WA) calculation with Microsoft Excel application. The results indicated 1 factor as very often occurring, and other 32 factors were reported as often occurring during construction works while WA value for significance revealed that there are seven factors which have extremely significant while other 26 factors lie in the category of very significant. Those seven dominating factors reported as extremely significant are the misuse of schedule, the increase of labourer age, weather changes, tool and equipment shortages, violation of safety precautions, working seven days per week without taking a holiday and lack of financial motivation system.

How does open innovation enhance productivity? An exploration in the construction ecosystem

“…We found that, by collaborating with research institutions, suppliers, and organisations from other industries, firms in construction could nurture their employees' knowledge and competencies, which is a cure for low productivity (Rahman et al, 2019), but also cultivate the firm's own structural capital through industrial learning, for instance through the identification of replicable best practices and construction processes.…”

“…Particularly problematic is the low investment in staff training, a relatively old problem that is vastly unaddressed even nowadays. Low salaries lead to difficulties in having a stable and motivated working force, leading to a high turnover of workers even from abroad, unfamiliar with the context of the project (Abdel-Wahab and Vogl, 2011;Allen, 1985;Rahman et al, 2019;Teicholz et al, 2001;Zhi et al, 2003) (Blanco et al, 2016;Bryer et al, 2016;CIDB, 1992;Hays, 2018;McNally, 2018) Few ICT investments and ICT integration…”

Factors affecting the labour productivity of brickwork and analyzing them using RII method

“…Many studies have been carried out on labour productivity in different countries where researchers considered many factors in their research like 50 factors [11] in Malaysia, 45 factors [12] in Israel, 83 factors [13] in the United States of America, 45 factors [14] in Kuwait, 27 factors [15] in Egypt, 52 factors [16] in Yemen. Similarly, Rahman et al [17] in Pakistan identified 33 factors affecting the labour productivity. It was observed in the literature survey that many researchers have used the method of the relative importance index (RII) to identify the top factors affecting productivity.…”

Assessment of Labour Productivity in Road Construction Projects of Pakistan

“…In Pakistan, the road projects are mostly sponsored by the Government and it is a fact that payments are delayed because of lengthy processes in the Government Departments [31]. Labour productivity is the least explored area in the construction industry of Pakistan [39]. The poor quality of labour productivity in Pakistan is because one-third of the workforce is illiterate that make it difficult to learn new skills and master new technologies.…”