Factors Affecting the Labour Productivity in Construction Projects of Pakistan

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.


Introduction
Construction projects considered as a core contributor to the national economy [1] which provides the necessary infrastructure and fulfils the fundamental need of shelter [2]. Sukumar and Kumar [3] argued that construction is a prime sector which consumes a major portion in the nation's total employment and also contributes to revenue generation of any country. It is reported that in developed countries, construction industry constitutes approximately 10% of the national income [4]. Besides that, it provides an employment rate of 7 % and 8 % in Europe and the USA, respectively [1 and 5]. Comparatively, in developing countries, the economic contribution of this industry is more imperative than developed countries [6]. Hence, it has made it compulsory to achieve successful completion of the projects. The success of the projects is dependent on several elements among which one of the important elements is labour [7]. Human resources are an uncontrollable and important part in any work [8] which affect significantly on the performance of any project [7]. In South Africa, labour productivity is remarked at the lowest level in for more than 40 years as cited by [2]. This unsatisfactory level of labour productivity is a result of several reasons. Thus, this study is focusing on studying the occurrence and significance of those prevailing reasons. However, the scope of this study was limited to the construction works of Pakistan.

Literature Review
Productivity is measured concerning outcome achieved against per unit time. It is an established phenomenon that in construction works consumes a significant amount of labour resource. Hence, the performance of labour has a direct effect on the construction cost. Hence, productivity in construction is often measured regarding labour productivity. In construction projects, labour productivity is observed as a complex parameter and is difficult to quantify [7]. Unfortunately, in many countries, the productivity of labour has been declined with time. A serious declination of labour productivity has been observed in Zimbabwe while in Nigeria; labour productivity growth has been unsatisfactory [9]. Thus construction production lies largely on the performance of labour. Performance of labour involved in projects is affected by several factors. Several researchers have put efforts in identifying those factors. A comprehensive list of the factors identified from literature is shown in table 1 below:

Methodology
The quantitative approach was adopted in this study to achieve the aim of the project, i.e. uncovering the underlying factors affecting labour productivity. With a total of 33 factors recognized from a review of previous works, a questionnaire was formed and distributed among the stakeholders involved in the construction industry. Questionnaire forms were sent to 150 randomly selected practitioners involved in handling construction works. The practitioners required to mark each factor for Probability of occurrence according to the measurement scale as: Not occur = scale 1 (0%) Slightly occur = scale 2 (1 -25%) Moderately occur = scale 3 (25 -50%) Often occur = scale 4 (50 -75%) Very often occur = scale 5 (75 -100%) At the same time, each factor was also required to mark the level of significance to determine the importance of the factors with the measurement scale as: Data collected from this survey was analysed by using Average Weight (WA) to assess the level of probability of occurrence and level of severity for each factor. The same method has been adopted by many other researchers to analyse the data gathered from this questionnaire survey. Average Weight (WA) calculated using the following formula:

Data Analysis and Results
Data analysis is the process of gathering, elaborating, analysing and transforming the data into useful information. Then based on the properly analysed data, a good approach to conclusion and recommendations of the study can be decided. The main theme of this research is to identify the factors that affect labour productivity in construction. This chapter involves the results of the data obtained through a questionnaire survey.

Demographic Analysis
The demographic analysis involves all the possible detailed information about the respondent's type of organization, years of experience, concerned project cost, and respondents' qualification. Information presented in the form of charts or graphs. Figure 1 represents the type of organization of the respondents.

Occurrence level of factors of labour productivity
Occurrence level of factors was analysed statistically with Weighted Average (WA) formula. WA value range 0 to 100 and the heightened value shows that the occurrence level is very high. The factors were ranked accordingly, and the results tabulated as in table 2.

Severity level of Factors
The level of severity for each factor was also assessed using WA value, and the results presented in table 3 below.

Conclusion
This study was carried out quantitatively aiming to uncover the factors of labour productivity in construction projects of Pakistan. It involved survey with a questionnaire consisting of 33 factors in getting the perception of the stakeholders regarding occurrence and severity level of the factors with a 5-point measurement scale. Gathered 54 questionnaire forms were analysed with frequency analysis and weighted average (WA). The results indicated 1 factor as very often occurring and other 32 factors while from perspective of severity level 7 factors reported as extremely significant are extremely significant are misuse of time schedule, increase of labourer age, weather changes, tool and equipment shortages, violation of safety precautions, working 7 days per week without taking a holiday and lack of financial motivation system The researchers are very much thankful to Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia for supporting this research work primarily regarding financial support to meet the registration fees of the conference.