0 not producing very much
1 not useful, or not creating anything:
We wasted three days in unproductive discussions.
2 not producing goods, crops, profits, etc. in a satisfactory amount:
unproductive discussions/meetings 70% of managers said they could save 10% of their time if they could avoid unproductive meetings.
unproductive labour/staff/workers Falling prices forced companies to cut unproductive workers.
Sales supervisors can help salespersons convert unproductive time into productive time.
The idea is that guidelines, by outlining efficient care strategies, will enhance the quality of care and reduce unnecessary or unproductive expenditures.
While no instances have been detected for the 20th century, the latest occurrences in the 19th century are preserved in unproductive or nonstandard collocations.
Often this led to unproductive debates over science rather than discussions of water management issues.
Instead, it has pitted ' ' pro-accounters ' ' against ' ' anti-accounters ' ' in an unproductive debate filled with accusations and exaggerations.
The land law further aims to solve the problems of land fragmentation and unproductive use.
While traps caused by energetic frustration generally slow folding, these ensemble intermediates caused by topology do not necessarily signal unproductive folding processes.
In the wake of the plague, there was large-scale population resettlement, where inhabitants of the more unproductive areas left for the better, 'vacant' areas.
We have in mind a government where some of the bureaucrats use international aid for private unproductive consumption or to settle a slush fund.
