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Foxconn Sees New Source of Cheap Labor: The United States
hackingbear writes "Foxconn is planning to build manufacturing plants in the U.S., probably in cites such as Detroit and Los Angeles. 'Since the manufacturing of Apple's products is rather complicated, the market watchers expect the rumored plants to focus on LCD TV production, which can be highly automated and easier.' Foxconn chairman Terry Guo, at a recent public event, noted that the company is planning a training program for US-based engineers, bringing them to Taiwan or China to learn the processes of product design and manufacturing."
They would do better to build their factories in flyover country, where cots of living are lower, average wage is lower, cost of utilities is lower, and all that jazz.
The central US is well connected for large freight shipments by rail.
Detroit (Flint as well) is on the list, L.A. is maybe for managing offices, but the largest plant is going to be in the south. Most likely northern Alabama or possibly Louisiana. How do I know? I work in one of the State Governors office and there has been Foxconn AND Pegatron groups in and out since at least, roughly, Christmas 2011
I don't think you have any experience at all in the Chinese labor market. It is very difficult to retain labor. If an employee finds a job in another factory for an extra 25 cents a day, they just don't show up again. Turnover is terrible, even in highly skilled positions such as engineering. People don't wait around to be promoted - instead, they hop from job to job, earning small title and salary increases each time.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
And theyre from a communist country where the government is much more powerful.
This may very well be why they are trying to establish a base in the United States. The Chinese political situation is far from stable now, so things could go very bad very quickly, and they could lose their entire operations. Having a backup in the US is a good idea.
Note also that Foxconn is a Taiwanese company, not Chinese, which makes them a convenient target for takeover if the Chinese government decides it needs a distraction. 'We've always been at war with Eastasia," China has always been at war with Taiwan.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Yes and no - the less skilled the job, the harder you have to deal with employee turnover.
For engineers though, providing you are running things well, you'll usually only have a big burst of turnover around the national holiday in March, when everyone gets paid a 13th salary as a bonus. The rest of the year though, everyone just waits until March so they don't lose their bonus. Turnover seems to be getting better too however - we only lost 2 from a team of 20 this past March (compared to 4-5 the previous year, and 5-7 the year before.)
#!/bin/csh cat $0
Wait a second, you are telling me without unions we would have no public education? Are you retarded?
No, my good and simple-minded detractor, I am simply aware of the fact that the people who ran the factories were the kind of people who, upon seeing a worker get mutilated by the machinery were simply led out the back door as their replacement walked in the front. If they don't value your life they aren't going to consider your education important.
Now I know you've lost it. We went to the moon because of unions?
No, you malignant ball of happy brain death... we built a strong industrial base and developed a large number of highly educated scientists and engineers because of unions, which allowed us to spend money on things like going to the moon, as well as having the expertise to do so.
And he was unionized, I suppose? Just that single person inventing things and selling them, a unionized island to himself.
Without an education, I doubt he'd be inventing much of anything besides idiosyncratic political viewpoints held in such low esteem by the author he wouldn't even pen his name to it. Or perhaps he lost his name in the bottom of a bottle while searching for his misplaced wits...
The unions had nothing to do with that. Union employes always had PENSIONS (well, you would like to think) that keep them from needing social security.
In days of old, when economies were bold, and monies were aplenty... it might be true, these words from you, if a public education you did not benefit. Alas our tale begins, in the darkened days of nineteen thirty two, whereupon there were many old, and the economy had foresaken. Fifty percent, the elderly were, homeless and in need, no pensions had they, no prospects too, when Sir Rosevelt made them all a Deal. He said to them, "I shall save you too, and you, and you, and you!" And with a mighty heave of his pen, he did create pensions for all, where none had existed before.
Most of these people have never had a union, except for certain engineers (and no, I'm talking professional engineer, sanitation engineers have a union, but they ain't real engineers, are they?) and scientists working for a university (and only sometimes then).
Not to put too fine a point on it, you keenly lacking invertebrate of questionable mental faculties and breeding, but they didn't have jobs either.
You must be high or retarded. Perhaps both?
On the internet, asking if someone else is either of those is basically admitting the character defect being accused. Or put in terms your juvenile nature can relate to, "the person who smelt it, dealt it." Good day sir!
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Jobs left the US because shareholder profits came to be considered much more important than paying employees enough to afford the products they made. The concept of noblesse oblige has been entirely replaced by amoral asocial asshattery. Greed became the greatest virtue and our equitable society faded away.
Slashdotters love to fancy themselves as 1%ers (Look at me, I make 70K a year!) and are thus especially useful idiots for big business.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
Chicken and egg question here. I don't know much about Japan, but from my French perspective German unions do an awesome job, and are probably one of the reasons (though not the sole) why Germany still does pretty well economically compared to other EU countries.
By contrast, the situation is pretty shitty in France. Polls have shown that among the OECD, French people put a higher value to work than most, but also that they tend to hate their workplace. Interestingly, French workers show less insatisfaction when they work for foreign companies. Some economists pin this on the fact that French economy is largely based on inheritance, and it results in a fundamental lack of trust between the various strates of workplace hierarchies. The workers, the middle management, the bosses, no one trusts another.
In the light of what you say about post-WWII, I wonder if Germany didn't ultimately benefit from getting rid of their higher ups, most of which having been in bed with the Third Reich.
There's nothing like $HOME