Since 2005, US productivity growth has been lackluster. Regaining historical rates would add $10 trillion to US GDP. What can business leaders and policy makers do to capture the opportunity? To explore this question, MGI convened a virtual launch event on a new report, Rekindling US productivity for a new era.
The session began with an overview of the findings with report author Charles Atkins, followed by a panel discussion moderated by CEO of The Atlantic, Nicholas Thompson with:
- Erik Brynjolfsson, Professor at the Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), and Director of the Digital Economy Lab, Stanford University
- Steve Case, Co-Founder, America Online; Chairman and CEO, Revolution
- Beth Cobert, Acting President, Markle Foundation
- Asutosh Padhi, Managing Partner for McKinsey in North America, and Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
The panel discussed some of the striking variations in productivity growth across states, cities, sectors, and companies as well as the steps leaders can take today to accelerate productivity. The themes of the discussion included:
- The link between technology adoption and productivity, including the potential for new developments in generative AI
- The productivity, investment, and innovation gap across the country
- Building a workforce of the future—technology, education, and job training
- Productivity in the workplace—what the most productive companies do
- The link between hybrid work and productivity
For more on this topic, please watch the virtual event recording and read our report, Rekindling US productivity for a new era.