jobs with sailboats

1) Deckhand

The deckhand performs routine operations on a boat such as maintaining its cleanliness.

They are responsible for performing repairs, detailing, preparing load cargo, and ship stocktaking.

Seamen are also watchmen, who assist the captain and stands watch as the boat is in motion, ensuring that it gets to its destination safely and on time.

They also maintain vessel equipment and mechanisms such as HVA, engine, and high-end equipment. Shipmates maintain very high safety standards and participate in anticipatory drills to prepare for major incidents while carrying out their duties in a professional and courteous manner.

2) Photographer

This job is suitable when you’re looking for a short-term position on a cruise ship .

It involves taking photos of guests as they board the vessel to set the tone for an exciting experience. The photographer takes large group photos and encourages them to buy digital images and printouts during the cruise.

They sell souvenirs to cruisers to make the experience memorable.

The photographer can also double up as a content moderator and scheduler on the boat’s social media handle.

The boat captain steers and operates the boat to transport personnel and cargo safely and promptly.

They also enter the position of the boat, set its course, and determine its velocity, using navigation devices like the compass and GPS.

They also ensure that all the passengers don the recommended life jackets. The captain also has an excellent knowledge of all the electrical and mechanical systems on the boat.

If you’re hired as a boat captain, you’ll be responsible for maintaining a registry of day-to-day activities, preparing progress reports as well.

A steward provides a supreme level of service to guests on a boat.

Expect to operate outside your comfort zone at times. You are constantly on the move, exerting your energy addressing requests and complaints from guests.

The steward is a team player and a valuable member of the boat’s crew. Once you can command the trust of the rest of the team, your seafaring adventure would be a complete blast.

A boat chef prepares the food according to prescribed guidelines, recipes, and production specs. They also receive and take care of food orders in terms of the portioning, arrangement, and garnishing.

Expect to assist in the periodic cleaning of the galley as well as associated equipment, if you’re looking to secure this role. Technical competence and commitment to excellence in food preparation and galley operation is vital.

Overall, the chef strives to deliver exceptional hospitality to guests and coworkers.

6) Engineers

If you have a background in engineering you have a good chance of getting a job on a boat. There are many technical aspects of boats that need attention constantly.

This is also a great way to go if you are not up for working in the kitchen or around people.

For bigger boats with large crews, you will have a much better chance of getting a job with an engineering background.

7) Masseurs

This is another creative way to get a job on a bigger boat like a cruise ship.

On a boat of this size, you will find all the typical jobs that you would also find in a small village.

People need to have their back massaged, their hair cut, etc. when they are cruising for months at the time.

You will need a degree and some experience to be able to fill out this position on a boat. But it’s just another example of how you can put your existing skill set and education to work on a boat.

Other jobs you can get on boats include:

• Oil drilling work hands
• Radio officer
• Dishwashing

As you can see, you just have to use your imagination and the skills you already have.

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Turn Your Boating Passion Into A Great New Career

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Are you or someone you know searching for the right career? The boating industry needs skilled technicians, and they'll pay to train you!

If you love to learn how things work, and you're mechanically-inclined, there are great boat companies willing to teach you new skills. (Photo: MIASF)

Drew Pope, 32, is a man in motion at the Nautique watersports boat manufacturing facility in Orlando, Florida. As the materials and supply chain manager for all 12 boat models his company builds, his job is to make sure the right pieces are in the right place at the right time. That responsibility has him continually thinking strategically while working on supply chain materials to support production of every single boat.

Pope grew up in a boating family. "We fished and waterskied. Being on the water has always been a part of my life."

While working toward a degree in industrial engineering at University of Central Florida (UCF), Pope sent his résumé to marine manufacturers in central Florida to say he was looking for experience. Nautique responded. The company didn't have a formal internship program but was planning ahead. He became its first paid intern in 2012. Since then, more than 40 have graduated from the paid internship program, and Nautique now has a formal partnership with UCF to give students real training to enter the recreational marine industry.

Chronic Need

For years, the recreational marine industry has struggled with a shortage of skilled professionals — especially mechanical and electrical technicians — exacerbated by the seasonality of boating, an aging and shrinking workforce, and the full-throttle advancement of new technologies.

"Before COVID, the recreational marine industry had 20,000 empty service tech jobs in the U.S.," says Margaret Podlich, executive director of the American Boat and Yacht Council Foundation, where she's focused on providing resources that create educational and career opportunities to current and aspiring marine service technicians. "During COVID, we have an unprecedented surge in boat sales, creating an even greater demand."

Unlike the much larger motor vehicle industry, which committed long ago to investing in developing its workers, the marine industry has lagged in proactive training, resulting in this vacuum. That's starting to change, with manufacturers and boat shops increasingly partnering with tech schools and marine trades associations  to shepherd new talent toward the training they need.

"We want the public to know the recreational marine industry has good paying jobs available for trained technicians," says Nick Vannocker, training technology manager at Mercury University, a program created by the outboard giant to form partnerships with tech colleges across the country. "We supply the product, training, and curriculum for the college programs, then match graduates with job opportunities, and often coach them."

MarineMax, the largest recreational marine dealership chain in the country, is a prime landing spot for many Merc U grads. And it's not just Mercury — Honda, Suzuki, Volvo, and Yamaha also have partnered with Universal Technical Institute, the nation's leading provider of tech training with 13 campuses coast to coast, to offer marine technician specialist training in outboard maintenance and repair.

Once in the employment pipeline, the training never ends. "Every time a manufacturer puts out a new product, they immediately put out training for it. That's how you stay ahead of the curve," says Chris Butts, technical training center manager at MarineMax. "Bottom line, the better our technicians are, the happier our customers are."

How To Find Your Way In The Door

Photo: Terri Schneider/Nautique

The number of high schools offering marine-tech training continue to increase every year. Traditional trade schools and marine-specific trade schools nationwide increasingly offer courses that run six months to two years. Here's a sampling:

• The U.S. hub for the recreational marine industry is Florida, where career opportunities abound. Start with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida , which offers a paid Yacht Service Technician Apprenticeship Program that trains shipyard service technicians the skills of welding, plumbing, machining, rigging, painting, and communication systems.
• The nonprofit Massachusetts Marine Trades Educational Trust was created by the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association to attract more young people to careers in the marine trades, and to provide technical education and training. The website offers statewide contacts for schools, training programs, and scholarships.
• Rhode Island has a diverse base of recreational marine businesses. The Rhode Island Marine Trades Association Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program offers seven weeks of hands-on training preparing participants for entry-level positions in composites, mechanics, painting, varnishing, hauling, rigging, fork lift, travel lift, and shrinkwrapping.
• In Maryland, the Marine Trades Industry Partnership offers six-week, paid on-the-job training for young people at the start of their careers. Ideal candidates are between 18 and 24.
• In Virginia, Tidewater Community College in Norfolk offers paid apprenticeship programs at several Hampton Roads marine employers. Graduates of its Maritime Technologies program who've completed an apprenticeship program can apply for supervisory positions or to continue toward a bachelor's degree.
• In Wilmington, North Carolina, Cape Fear Community College offers several Marine Technology programs, including boat manufacture and service. The one-year diploma program teaches fundamentals of boat service in plumbing, electrical, engine systems, and modern fiberglass boat construction techniques.
• The Recreational Boating Industries Educational Foundation, through the Michigan Boating Industries Association , helped craft the curriculum for the Marine Management course at Michigan State University, works with marine businesses statewide to provide paid internship opportunities, and offers scholarships.
• The marine hub of the West Coast, Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, Washington, offers Marine Maintenance Technology focusing on two disciplines: marine mechanics and marine electrical systems. The program offers one-year certificates in each area and a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree for completing coursework in both fields.
• Also in the PNW, Core Plus , partly funded by the NW Marine Trade Association, is a two-year, standardized high-school curriculum providing students across Washington with hands-on learning and transferable skills leading to careers in aerospace, construction, and maritime.
• The Spaulding Marine Center in California offers a Marine Apprenticeship Program for young adults entailing 15 months of marine systems training. Students will have hands-on experience in many areas and the opportunity to learn from craftsmen in the field.

Brave New World

Survey after survey reveal that young people are reassessing career options, while displaced seasoned workers are reevaluating their careers during the pandemic. There is also an ongoing cultural shift away from "everyone should get a college degree" to a re-embracing of nontraditional tech-school education and the return of more technically focused "shop classes" at the high school level.

The mean national pay for marine mechanics and service technicians is $20.83/hour, or $43,320 annually, according to the U.S. Department of Labor , but pay varies widely depending on job location and skill level. For example, the mean wage in certain areas of Texas is more than $63,000 a year; in Rhode Island, it's around $53,000; in California or Florida, it's around $50,000. In nonmetropolitan areas, the mean wage can range from $30,000 to the low $40,000s. Opportunities for advancement are plentiful, and paid apprenticeships and training are multiplying.

Recreational marine industry insiders suggest even high school students have a good chance of finding a company to pay for them to go to marine-tech school. With a trade in their pocket, they can find a job anywhere in the country. (Photo: MarineMax)

Still, there's no one-stop process to enter the marine tech industry, even as it steps up training efforts to attract the next generation of employees. No recruiters are out there looking to find you. It's up to you to take the helm of your career path.

"Take chances. Put yourself out there. Follow your passions," Pope says. "I don't feel like I'm coming to work every morning. I love what I'm doing." To get an idea of how others have made inroads into their marine tech careers, let's meet some marine professionals who tell us how they got their start and learned their trades:

Andy Novak, Marine Mechanic, NW Explorations

While working as a trainer in a call center for a home-security company in Denver, Colorado, Novak and his wife took a leap of faith and moved back to her home state of Washington, without either having secured a job. "I was 40 and figured if I was ever going to get a dream job," he says, "that was the time to start figuring that out."

Novak had minimal boating experience but was a passionate angler. "I developed a 10-year plan to learn how to fix and drive boats, so boats would get me to the fish!" he says. He enrolled in Skagit Valley Community College's renowned marine tech program in Anacortes. After a year, he earned an ABYC Master Certification and became a paid tech apprentice at a local boatyard for two years, subsequently moving to another shop as systems rigger, then another as a mechanic.

Three years ago, a friend from Skagit offered him a job at NW Explorations in Bellingham, which offers charters, boat sales, and repairs. On his first day as an onboard marine mechanic, he set off on a seven-day charter through the San Juan Islands. "That's when I fell in love with being on the water while making a buck," he says. Novak is the fixer of everything on the charters, then works on boats in the yard full-time during the off-season.

"In this industry, you have to know engines and all the systems, water pumps, electrical, heads, you have to know your way around the boat. These are half-million, million-dollar yachts, so you have to learn to do it right," he says. "As a mechanic, I'll always have a job."

Little to no experience? Start by looking at the curriculum of tech schools in your area, then the Marine Mechanics Institute or a similar marine-centric school. Look into local community colleges and vocational schools. Call marinas and communicate your ambitions and graduation time. Try to line up a hiring commitment as soon as possible, even if it means working weekends while you're going to school.

Chris Butts, MarineMax Technical Training Center Manager

Chip Henderson, Parts Consultant, MarineMax

Now 30, Henderson dropped out of college after two years, worked for an audio/video company, then a computer company. He'd always loved the water and boats, growing up on his grandfather's 1980s Sea Ray off the New Jersey shore.

"In 2018, my dad bought a Sea Ray Sundancer from MarineMax Baltimore," Henderson explains. "One day the mobile tech came out to the boat and told me how much he loved his job, and that he'd been with MarineMax for 20 years. That inspired me."

His research let him to Chris Butts, head of MarineMax University, launched in 2016 to address the growing tech shortage at the company's 77 locations. Henderson enrolled in the one-year Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) in Orlando, Florida, and graduated in 2019 certified as an entry-level technician, ready for more intensive training at MarineMax University.

"What I liked about my time there was for the first three days of the week, you're in a classroom getting online training from Mercury, Seakeeper, Yamaha, and Volvo techs," he says. "On Thursdays and Fridays, all students go down into the shop and are paired with a technician."

Henderson became a Mercury-certified technician. He was then hired as a full-time rigging technician (responsible for the repairs and rigging of boats and trailers) at the Clearwater store — despite having no training — because MarineMax was willing to pay his salary while training him how to install any add-ons the customer wanted, such as GPS, radars, underwater lights, and stereo upgrades. He then took a job in the parts department, where he was qualified because he was trained as both an engine and rigging tech. Growing your skill set is what companies want, and they're willing to help you get there.

Josh Hanna, Marine Technician, Irish Boat Shop

Josh Hanna. It's not just shiny new boats that require tech knowledge and training. Classic boats need skilled TLC, too.

Hanna, 25, graduated from Northern Michigan University with an automotive technician associate's degree, because he knew there would be job openings. While working on vehicles, he came across an ad for a tech apprenticeship program with the nearby Irish Boat Shop.

"My dad got his first boat when I was 7. That's when my love of boating started." Two years later, Hanna is the first graduate of the Michigan boat shop's paid two-year apprenticeship program, was hired as a full-time marine tech, and is now learning engine maintenance from Mercury Marine technicians.

"The need for the program grew out of the skills gap plaguing all trades," says Laura Kohler, Irish Boat Shop's human resources director, "and the fact that our experienced marine technicians are retiring after 20 to 30 years. We recruit apprentices who may or may not have any experience in the marine industry, and our technicians teach them the skills they need to be successful. Our goal is to produce well-rounded marine techs who stay for a career with Irish Boat Shop once they complete the two-year program."

Erena Fridman, Project Manager Apprentice, Derecktor Shipyard

With a passion for learning, Erena Fridman tried several interesting careers before finding her professional home at Derecktor Shipyard in South Florida. (Photo: MIASF)

Fridman, 38, came to the U.S. as a refugee from the former Soviet Union when she was 10. Her boating background involved only paddlecraft, but "as long as I can remember, I've loved everything about the ocean — the smells, vibe, people, and of course the boats."  Her bachelor's degree in business from University of Minnesota led to eight years in e-commerce. But after her son was born, she could no longer handle the international travel required. She quit, earned an education degree, and became a teacher. Three years later, she moved with her son to South Florida to enroll in a marine engineering school while working gig jobs to pay the bills.

"Back home, my father owned a forklift company, and I was so interested in the mechanics of forklifts and cars," she says. "Eventually, I began concentrating on what would make me happy — combining my passion for machines, mechanics, boat life, and the ocean. Marine engineering seemed like a natural career progression." Two days after graduation, Derecktor Shipyard in Dania Beach hired her, and she rotated through departments to learn varied industry skills. Derecktor sponsored her to attend the Marine Industry of South Florida's Yacht Service Technician Apprenticeship Program one night a week. When she graduates in December, she'll become Derecktor project manager.

"I have no regrets and look forward to coming to work every morning."

Gabriel Andrews, Quality Control and Assurance Manager, DeAngelo Marine Exhaust

Andrews, 42, began as a high school teacher in Fort Lauderdale, where he came in contact with the Marine Industry Association of South Florida, which works with local schools to raise awareness of the industry. While shepherding his students through marine industry field trips and summer camps, Andrews himself became interested in opportunities within the industry.

"I grew up next to the water in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Gulf waters were a 10-minute bike ride, and we'd fish off a seawall at Bay Vista Park. We used hotdogs for bait because we couldn't afford shrimp," he recalls.

The closest he got to boating was watching them from the shore.

But a high school class trip to the Florida Keys that included snorkeling from a boat drew him in. "It was the most beautiful crystal-clear water I'd ever seen." While he considers teaching "one of the most fulfilling experiences" of his life, after getting married and having a child, he decided he "needed to grow technically, professionally, and personally to support a growing family."

In college, he'd taken engineering and design courses. "I was open to new opportunities when I got a call for an engineering position at DeAngelo Marine Exhaust."

He says the most interesting part about his job is the challenge of continually improving processes to yield higher quality products. "I'm not one to run from challenges. I enjoy them."

I can't stress this enough — most employers are looking for people to show up every day on time and work hard. They will take care of training you if you have those disciplines. And most expect you to have your own tool box.

Ethan Love, Marine technician, Dry Dock Marine Center

Ethan Love, Technician, Dry Dock Marine Center

Ethan Love grew up surrounded by a recreational boating culture in northeast Indiana. There are 105 lakes in Steuben County, so the region is flush with marinas and boat dealerships. He embraced boating, waterskiing, and riding personal watercraft on Lake James. "There's marinas everywhere and just about everyone owns boats. It's a big part of the community and it piqued my interest," the 20-year-old explains.

Love has always been mechanically inclined, winning the competitive Indiana SkillsUSA Marine Service competition, and placing fourth in the nation in 2019. "I've always liked wrenching around on my own stuff, which got me thinking that maybe I can leverage this as a career."

Geography was on his side as Impact Institute was close to home. The technical training center partners with local high schools and recreational boating businesses to train the next generation of technicians. He took advantage of the paid internship program his junior and senior years to attend classes, which expanded to include working three days per week at nearby Dry Dock Marine Center. Upon graduation in 2019, he had a full-time job waiting at Dry Dock. "I knew this was what I wanted to do, so there wasn't any use in wasting time," he says.

After initially learning from the seasoned techs, Dry Dock paid for his certification training at Nautique in Florida and Yamaha in Georgia. He's now a certified technician for Nautique and PCM engines, and Yamaha Waverunners.

"You know how people say, ‘If you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life?' I was always taught to work hard, I'm mechanically inclined, and I just enjoy the work," he says, noting the marine industry needs techs, but it also needs staff in service, parts, sales, and office work. "I prefer the service side of things, but I also like working with customers, so I might work my way toward service management," he says. "If this is something you really want, you've just got to go for it."

Riley Smith, Technician, Scott's Marine

Riley Smith

Smith, 19, grew up in Foley, Alabama, loving two things: cars and boats. When it came to choosing a career path, he could have gone either way, but he picked boats. "I've been on the water almost all my life, so I thought it'd be a good idea to work on boats," says Smith, who graduated high school last year.

He then found his next career step while searching online. George Stone Technical College in nearby Pensacola, Florida, offers an intensive Marine Services Technologies Course, which is partnered with Mercury and Yamaha. The 1,350-hour program incorporates technician training for outboards, outboard diagnostics, inboard gas, drive train, and inboard diesel. The cost is about $4,500 for Florida residents and about $16,000 for nonresidents.

Smith has logged more than 730 hours by August, making him eligible to begin field work at Scott's Marine in Elberta, Alabama, which partners with both the school and engine manufacturers Mercury and Yamaha. When he finishes school (he's on track for December), he'll have a full-time job at Scott's waiting for him. "I've been learning how to do pre-delivery inspections of boats, some basic service work like water pumps and warranty work, which is what I'll be doing when I work full-time," he says. From there, Smith can take his new career in whatever direction it leads.

"I feel good about where I am. I feel great about the career path I've chosen," he says. "I just love learning how to do it right. My co-workers help me a lot, and I'm learning from their experiences."

New Resources For Teachers

"I'm working with many teachers at the local level — high schools, community colleges, tech schools," says ABYC's Margaret Podlich. "Their consensus? Some kids struggle in traditional classroom settings and learn better by doing."

ABYC is the essential source of tech info for the marine industry, setting performance standards for nearly every component on a recreational boat. In 2012, ABYC published Fundamentals of Marine Service Technology by Ed Sherman and Tim Murphy, the first textbook targeted squarely for secondary and post-secondary students. It assumes no prior knowledge of boats or marine systems. Step-by-step, it brings students into the world of boats and all their interacting parts.

This textbook is the foundation for the ABYC curriculum created for teachers interested in launching their own intro course on marine training. All curriculum is to ABYC standards.

ABYC hosts an annual Educator Training Conference in July, designed to "train the trainers," Podlich says, noting the conference features trainers from some of the largest recreational marine companies. "We see plans to create or expand programs at the local level across the country."

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Dredging of Wailoa Small Boat Harbor on track

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A boater brings his boat into the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor while a man plays with his dogs in Hilo on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

HILO, Hawai‘i — Lawmakers and boaters hope for smooth sailing at the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor in Hilo, as a long-awaited dredging project inches closer toward beginning.

The harbor, one of East Hawai‘i’s last functioning boat launches after the closure of the Pohoiki Boat Ramp during the 2018 eruption, has gone undredged for more than seven years, leading to a dangerous buildup of sediment in the harbor mouth that has substantially reduced the facility’s usability.

Boater Leilehua Yuen said her late father’s boat has been stuck in the harbor for more than five years, and went aground at least three times attempting to pass the mouth of the Wailoa River — multiple times at high tide, no less.

“Once was midway through ebb-tide,” Yuen said via email “For several years, he could only go in and out at highest tide, which meant that if we took the boat out, we could not come back for either 12 or 24 hours. Since then, he went aground twice at high tide.

“For the past five years, we have been trapped in the basin, and could not take the boat out at all,” Yuen continued. “This winter’s storms have now made the harbor impassable for many other vessels, as well. This also means that boats needing to seek refuge in the basin from storms cannot come in to safe harbor.”

Thanks to $3.2 million in capital improvement funds allocated for the dredging during last year’s state budget cycle, some of the harbor’s woes are on track to be fixed later this year, although Hilo Sen. Lorraine Inouye said she is disappointed at the pace of the work.

“It shouldn’t have gotten this far,” Inouye said. “The burden is now on the public, on the boaters who have to deal with this problem.”

Inouye said she has been in constant contact with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR), as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in attempts to expedite the dredging. However, she said the project is not anticipated to begin before July, which she said is too long for users to wait.

DOBOR Administrator Ed Underwood said the Army Corps of Engineers has appointed consultants who are currently conducting surveys to determine the scope of the dredging necessary. Once those surveys are completed, and permit applications are finalized and submitted, contractors will be hired to carry out the actual dredging, Underwood said.

How long the dredging project will take will depend upon the results of the survey.

Although Underwood noted that DOBOR has “been asking for funding for this for years,” Inouye said that Hilo boaters can ill afford such essential work to be put off for years at a time, particularly when Hawai‘i Island fishermen are more limited than ever in where they can launch from.

To that end, Inouye touted Senate Bill 2156, a measure she introduced this legislative session that would allocate funds to the DLNR for a scheduled program of maintenance dredges and other necessary work at all of the state’s small boat harbors and launches.

“It seems we only get these dredges to happen every few years, but it needs a consistent process,” Inouye said.

The Senate Committee on Water and Land, which Inouye chairs, voted Thursday to pass SB 2156 with little discussion, although she told the Tribune-Herald funding could still be hard to come by this year thanks to ongoing budget pressures from the Lahaina Fire. Consequently, the bill does not include a specific dollar amount in its current form.

In the event that no additional funding is available, Inouye said she hopes the bill can still pass and establish a framework for a future schedule of maintenance work.

She added the DLNR could potentially establish a pilot program for a single island, and posited that between Wailoa, Pohoiki, Kawaihae and other facilities, Hawaii Island should be the prime candidate for such an enterprise.

“I just feel sorry for the people whose careers depend on being able to use these harbors,” Inouye said.

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Productivity is way up

The reason: Americans are getting better at their jobs

A new gospel is coming out of Silicon Valley , major business conferences , and seemingly every corporate call with investors : Artificial intelligence is about to make workers way more productive.

Free from the shackles of mundane tasks, employees will be able to churn out high-quality work in half the time. In fact, the argument goes, the data shows that labor productivity — the wonkish measure of how much a worker can get done in a given hour — is already on the rise .

While another technology-driven efficiency miracle might be coming soon, the recent uptick in productivity is almost certainly more quotidian than the AI evangelists suggest . Strong economic growth is inspiring businesses to invest more in basic equipment that helps people work faster, and the more stable labor market is leading to more experienced workers with a firmer grasp of their jobs.

This may not be the earth-shattering news that technophiles believe it is, but higher productivity is still great news for the US economy. In a time when everyone has inflation on the brain, better productivity helps lift the economy's potential output, allowing for higher growth without triggering a rapid run-up in prices. I've written before that stronger, noninflationary growth is an " economic nirvana " where businesses can build, workers can increase their incomes, and households can watch nest eggs grow. And with increasing productivity, there's a better chance that America can get there.

What we talk about when we talk about productivity

First, it's important to get a handle on what exactly productivity means. At the simplest level, labor productivity is how much output (widgets, meals, spreadsheet computation) one person can complete in an hour. But measuring just how productive workers are can be tricky. Indeed, productivity is calculated from what we know: output and hours worked. Work from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, however, helps break down labor productivity into several component parts to give us a sense of the whole:

Labor quality: The more skilled or educated the workers, the more likely they are to be productive. If employees take a course on how to better perform a critical task, or if they simply stay in their jobs and learn the ropes better, overall labor quality and productivity go up.

Capital deepening : Businesses can invest in new equipment or facilities that make workers more productive — for instance, a machine that can quickly assemble parts that a worker used to have to assemble by hand.

Utilization of labor and capital resources: This refers to how intensely and efficiently existing resources are being used. Businesses can buy all the new equipment they want, but they also have to learn to deploy it optimally.

Total factor productivity: This is basically everything else not included in the factors above, such as technological advancements.

Over time, labor productivity has been driven by different elements. In the 1990s and 2000s, rising productivity was mostly from capital deepening and new innovations. In the years following the global financial crisis, businesses didn't spend much on capital, which weighed on productivity.

Since the start of the pandemic, productivity has been somewhat erratic. It fell by 1.09% on average per quarter from 2021 through 2022, the worst two-year stretch in four decades . But over the past year, labor productivity has advanced by 1.62% on average per quarter, a significant reversal and even better than the pre-pandemic period of 2015 to 2019. There are signs, however, that the US could be on the verge of an even bigger productivity boom.

The case for a productivity boom

Last year, though supply-chain snarls and other COVID-era knots had been disentangled, plenty of firms still expected the economy to go into recession , and so they curtailed their investments in new equipment and big capital projects. Conditions so far in 2024 are much improved — recession risks have receded , and corporate confidence has recovered. There are signs that this is, in turn, inspiring companies to invest more in productivity-enhancing capital projects:

The S&P Global US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index points to strengthening durable goods orders. The new-orders component — which measures how much new product managers expect to be ordered in the months ahead — has climbed to 53.5, the highest since May 2022. Globally, conditions appear to be perking up as well.

The US is importing more capital goods. January's trade data indicates imports of real capital goods rose by 3.8% month over month. Over the past six months they've increased by 9.6% at an annual rate. Ultimately, imported capital goods will be used for domestic production.

Stocks are up. A rising stock price means stronger balance sheets and more collateral against which to borrow. So during a boom, there's a positive feedback loop: Rising stock prices and easier lending standards accelerate the impact on investment.

Capital spending also benefits from an accelerator effect. If companies perceive the economy as getting better, they're more likely to spend more on capital goods to meet the expected increase in demand. So when GDP growth accelerates, investment tends to rise even faster, which should push up productivity down the line.

A steadying of the labor market is also a strong sign of a coming productivity boom. In the early days of the pandemic, labor markets were red hot, driving up the rate of quitting and hiring. Employers were running around with fishnets trying to find people, and workers used their leverage. A little heat in the job market is good, but you can have too much of a good thing. It's hard to establish productivity if folks aren't actually staying in their positions for that long. Today, labor-market conditions have settled : Job openings have declined, unemployment has increased somewhat, and workers are less willing to quit their jobs. This means people are staying in their jobs longer. As workers gain experience in their roles, productivity should follow.

Total factor productivity has been particularly weak since the start of the pandemic — perhaps innovation has slowed down or employees are still getting used to new in-person or hybrid work arrangements in the remote-work era. But those hurdles should fall into the rearview mirror as the economy settles. At the same time, there has recently been a burst of new business formation. That's important since the slowing pace of business dynamism and lack of new business formation in the 2000s was said to be a reason behind the sluggish growth in productivity, particularly after 2005. The rise in business formation suggests people are willing to take on additional risk, and that should aid in productivity growth. More broadly, increased business formation ought to help allocate resources from less-productive firms to more-productive ones. Competition is a good thing!

Rising productivity lifts all boats

If productivity is indeed turning up, economists and market experts haven't fully processed the news yet. Looking at a chart of Blue Chip Consensus estimates for GDP growth back to the early 1990s, a few trends become clear. First, the consensus tends to underestimate the severity of recessions, so economists have to quickly revise down their estimates during downturns. Second, the consensus tends to be too pessimistic as the economy recovers from the recession, which is why we see upward revisions to growth immediately after a recession. And finally, there are long periods when surprises tend to flow in the same direction — a string of years when economists are consistently underestimating or overestimating growth. This tends to happen when the growth trend changes and economists are mismeasuring the change in productivity.

Productivity shocks tend to come in waves. The 2010s, when productivity consistently fell short of expectations, was a period of chronically overestimated growth: The consensus would start the year at about 3% but end up at 1.5% or 2%. By contrast, the late 1990s were a period of higher productivity growth and underestimated growth, starting the year at 2% but ending closer to 4%.

These historical examples are worth thinking about today because growth expectations are climbing. Blue Chip consensus expectations for 2024 real GDP have jumped, tripling since last summer, to 2.1% from 0.7% in June. Unsurprisingly, recession fears have collapsed. Professional forecasters now see just a 23.9% chance of a drop in real GDP in the next quarter, down from nearly 50% this time last year. If we're seeing a genuine increase in productivity, the takeaway is that it's unlikely to be fleeting. If the past is prologue, the consensus will consistently be revising up growth estimates.

The AI boom isn't here — yet

The media is littered with discussions about how AI is going to send productivity into hyperspeed. But it's probably too soon to be thinking about these factors as the main driver of recent productivity growth. That's an important part of the productivity paradox. Productivity miracles don't necessarily follow a technological breakthrough right away. It takes time for the technology to make its way through the economy and time for workers to gain the skills needed to make the most of it.

The good news is that the normalization of the economy — improvement in supply chains, balanced labor markets — is likely to result in continued improvement in business-sector productivity growth. I think "normal" is about 1.5% to 2%. There's likely some improvement on the horizon as capital spending outpaces hours worked; as a result, we'll get a bit more capital deepening this year.

The investment implications of this are clear: Stronger productivity growth implies a higher speed limit for the economy. Wages can grow somewhat faster without pressuring firms to raise prices — a positive development for the Fed, at least in the short run. On the flip side, neutral rates might be somewhat higher as a result. For stocks, stronger productivity should be welcomed, implying more growth with stronger profit margins.

Neil Dutta  is head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research.

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Job opens on UK's last coal-powered paddle steamer

A "once in a lifetime job" to maintain the UK's last remaining coal-powered paddle steamer has been advertised.

Kingswear Castle paddle steamer operates on the River Dart, in Dartmouth, Devon, and has been in service for 100 years, said Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company.

Paul Merrington, engineering director, said responsibilities included raising steam and operating the engine.

He added it was an "exciting opportunity".

Mr Merrington said: "She is the only remaining coal-fired paddle steamer operating in the UK.

"She is one of a kind and one of only a handful left in the world.

"The engine itself is 120 years old, so it would suit somebody who likes old machinery.

"Someone with traction engine experience could comfortably come into the engine room and understand some of what is going on."

'Wonderful job'

The firm described the role as a "once in a lifetime job".

Mr Merrington added: "Day-to-day, it involves raising steam, maintaining the boiler pressures, operating the engine after it has been lubricated at the start of the day and then actually driving the engine from the skipper's commands.

"It is a very small number which has had the opportunity to have this wonderful job."

He added the company was looking to get someone in the role "as soon as possible".

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