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Jobs leaving again

calamity

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Trump failed to reshore jobs. As a result, we landed a $2m project to strip a series of assembly lines out of a plant in Missouri, refurbish a few robots and send the whole thing to Mexico. Why?

There are three stories. Maybe all three played a part..

1. The plant was recently sued due to hazardous work conditions. The judgement against them approached $30M. They are appealing.

2. Costs: It’s simply cheaper to build in Mexico than it is in Missouri.

3. People: They can’t find enough labor in Missouri. This may be true or it may be a matter of cost. Either way, there is no shortage of workers in Mexico.

IMO, this is a horrible outcome for the US from what is likely a sound business decision by said company. Logistics are a nightmare but lower costs and less legal hassles makes a move like this worthwhile for corporations.

I’m just glad that I’ll manage this project from my office in Ohio and not be one of the guys doing all the work in Mexico. The team will sleep in Texas and commute by bus to the plant every day for about a month to complete this task.

On failed Trumpism: We probably should have just let more Mexicans come up here rather than ship more of our jobs down there. Seems to me that would have been logical. No?
 
Labour shortages obviously have a substantial impact on a nation's economic health. The US birthrate dropped 4% in 2020, a new record. Without an increase in immigration you're going to continue to see these types of jobs leaving the US for places with better labour availability.
 
It's a simple matter to bring all sorts of jobs back to the good old United States of America. Here's how to do it. [Republicans, pay attention. Here's your 2024 platform.]

1. Exempt returning businesses from all, repeat, all environmental regulations.

2. Exempt returning businesses from work safety regulations.

3. Give the returning businesses tax-free status.

4. Eliminate wage, hour and child labor laws so that American workers can legally work for $3/day.

Er, th-th-that's all, folks!

Regards, stay safe 'n well 'n remember the Big 5.
 
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Hey now, you don't remember Trump getting tough on Canada and Mexico?

Trump signs USMCA trade deal to replace 'nightmare NAFTA'

President Trump lauded the signing of the trade deal with Canada and Mexico, before joking that he shouldn't mention the border wall.
www.nbcnews.com

USMCA, Trump’s new NAFTA deal, explained in 600 words

The trade deal between Canada, Mexico, and the US officially goes into force July 1.
www.vox.com
 
I hate to see the jobs go, but the economics are sound.
 
"We probably should have just let more Mexicans come up here rather than ship more of our jobs down there."

Yup. The US economy has expanded over so many yrs due to immigration. Otherwise, we would not have had the labor force necessary to grow. A flattening population means a stagnating economy.

The company may have made the right economic decision to move to Mexico, but it sounds like they may have made some bad business decisions leading up to their own business failure, incl ignoring their own hazardous work conditions.
 
Yes the plan failed. That being said it was mainly aimed at China. It might be interesting to debate why the plan failed. However we would get bogged down in Trump this or that versus why the U.S. has a problem with implementing long term strategy with politicians who think short term and presidents who have 4 years.
 
Yes, the short sighted anti immigration people are not very bright. I doubt they will figure it out either.
 

When was the decision made to move the work to Mexico?
 
If the sole concern is available workers, then sure. However, once you get into the process of comparing operating costs and where you save money in that regard, then moving to Mexico makes more sense.
 
Offshoring is a problem beyond the ability and authority of the Executive branch to fix. It will take an act of Congress.
 
Ah ... a race to the bottom.
Yeah, that ought'a work.
 
ElChupacabra said:
If the sole concern is available workers, then sure. However, once you get into the process of comparing operating costs and where you save money in that regard, then moving to Mexico makes more sense.
Click to expand...
Health care costs now outweigh salary for lower wage workers. $30K annual in insurance premiums to pay for a family plan to cover a guy/gal making $30k per year will crush competitiveness.
 
Some sort of corroborating evidence of your anecdotal personal story would be nice. Anything we could link to for more actual information?
 
calamity said:
Health care costs now outweigh salary for lower wage workers. $30K annual in premiums to pay for a family plan to cover a guy/gal making $30k per year will crush competitiveness.
Click to expand...
Yep. Often people focus on salaries, but when you look at the full compensation package it's a whole different picture; healthcare being the other major cost. It also becomes problematic for smaller businesses because they're competing with larger ones which can offer better plans at lower cost.
 
this has been playing out over the last half century. Companies moving overseas or to Mexico due to less regulations and cheaper labor costs. It became where it was cheaper to ship the good from China or Mexico or somewhere else than have them made in the states. This isn't new. This is one reason we now have a service economy instead of an industrial one.

Robotics have been here for a long time especially in the Auto industry for a start. Where a plant might employ 500 or 1,000 or more, with robotics they down to a 100 or less. Even fast food, burger chains are now moving toward robotics as the price of labor rises. Kiosk have already replace workers for orders in some. How much longer will there be a robotic hand able to flip burgers and put them on a bun? Probably sooner than one thinks.

It really wasn't that long ago where both major parties looked on illegal immigration as a good thing. The Democrats looked on them as possible voters and the GOP as cheap labor. If one's old enough to remember that.
 
Torus34 said:
Hi, MamboDervish!

The Republicans, with such devices as 'right to work' and other laws, have been attempting to do that for years.
Click to expand...
🖐 Hey, hey 34!

Indeed, I've dubbed all the "right to work" States as "right to race to the bottom" States for many years now. And they almost universally have lower standards of living, lower property values, and take more from the federal coffers, than the States without such laws. You'd think someone should point that out to them.
 
calamity said:
Health care costs now outweigh salary for lower wage workers. $30K annual in insurance premiums to pay for a family plan to cover a guy/gal making $30k per year will crush competitiveness.
Click to expand...

That is why big business would love to see universal health care. More important to them than tax rates.
 

Am I reading this wrong?

1. You intend to stay with the company. You shouldn't be discussing their decision online, particularly not in a critical way.
2. You intend to leave the company in protest. You can't do that if they've already fired you.

If you're making a fuss everywhere, not just on DP, then forgive me. But getting fired for some backwaters social media posts won't be that effective.
 
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