Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickt
See? I told you it was sensitive. Look, I don't want to seem unfeeling, but the fiscal realities are that American labor must be prepared to compete globally if it expects to keep jobs. If domestic labor costs exceed foreign labor costs by more than a "token amount," management will move the production overseas -- I'm just telling you like it is. You know, a lot of us on this board had parents that were raised during the Depression, and we, ourselves, grew up in the shadow of our parents' life experiences. I believe they would tell American labor that if the jobs no longer can support your desired standard of living, and you want to keep those jobs, then you must be prepared to lower your standard of living. Like I said, it's a very sensitive subject....
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Just so you are aware..it is generally NOT the labor cost that is the deciding factor on where to produce the items. Since the value of the dollar has dropped and the Chinese are demanding higher pay, that is becoming much smaller of an issue. The big difference is in material costs. The Chinese government holds the costs of the material artificially low via government subsidies. For example, a few years ago, you could buy a complete mold roughly 6'x3'x12" in dimensions from China for about $1000. The material alone in the USA was more than that. It was cheaper to buy the screwed up mold from China, ship it here, and have it repaired than to buy material here.
Extensive use of automation and sophisticated CNC machines has made any difference in labor negligible. We are now competing with shipping costs, material costs, and delivery times. We can beat all of those in the USA except your most basic of items...like hand tools.