The article deals with the impact of output volatility on the growth of labor productivity in Polish manufacturing industries between 1994 and 2008. The author analyzes the dual role of financial development, measured by the amount of credit to the private sector, both as a direct growth enhancing factor and as a cushion against the adverse effects of output volatility. The existence of inter-sectoral linkages called for the decomposition of output volatility into sector-specific and aggregate volatility, the latter being transmitted from other manufacturing sectors. These output volatility indicators as well as the financial development indicator were added to the set of independent variables in a regression model seeking to explain the rate of growth of value added per employee. The estimated regression model was derived from the neoclassical growth model, expanded to include the determinants of technological progress, such as R&D effort, foreign direct investment inflow, and the tax burden. Panel data and the Generalized Method of Moments were used to perform the estimation. The analysis of the estimation results suggests that the growth of labor productivity in Polish manufacturing industries is negatively correlated with sector-specific output volatility. Volatility transmitted from other sectors leaves the rate of labor productivity growth unaffected. The degree of financial development, measured by the amount of credit to the private sector, does not seem to offset the negative impact of output volatility on growth, the author says; in fact, it appears to contribute to a deceleration in the rate of growth.