Regarding job layoffs in the U.S.A.

[Mike_Dumond]

Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m.

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was percolating, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG.)

He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA.)

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today.

After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio(MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while.

He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.....AMERICA.

 

[Thomas]

Mike,
I think some of the problem call free trade,in which some countries refuse to understand. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

 

[Jeff396]

He probably had to buy all that foreign made stuff so he could afford his ridiculously expensive German made car./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Whole dang problem was he was lookin for an AMERICAN JOB.
Now, if he was lookin for work, he coulda found plenty, but, he was lookin for one of them JOBS that cover all his wants needs and desires.
His resume was impecable, prepared by a professional fiction writer. It almost made you think he might have some skills to offer the company.
First question he asked at the intervue was "how long do I have to be here before I can take vacation".
Then, he asked "how many sick days a year and how many personal days, and when can I start taking them?"
After that, he wanted to know what kind of benefits the company provided.
Then, he asked what kind of company car he could expect.
Naturally, he made it clear he'd have to get extra consideration, because ADA qualified him for extra EEOC points because he was 120# overweight, and he'd sue at the first instance of anyone calling him a fat basturd.

 

[cp1969]

There are no jobs which will cover 'all wants, needs, and desires.' All those things increase as income rises so as to stay forever unaffordable. The ability to satisfy wants, needs, and desires is not measured by income. For some, $5 an hour is enough; for others, a billion dollar income would only serve to whet the appetite for a trillion dollar income.

However, it is possible to ascribe some figures to basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and transport. When a job pays so little it offers no prospect of staying ahead of these minimal bills, what hope is there for the person performing it?

I make no claim to know how to figure out what a job should pay. All I know is that if I were an employer, I would want, if I could, to pay the highest wages I could to my employees. That way I would have access to the cream of the crop, so to speak, of applicants and turnover should be lower.

This is apparently the complete opposite of what is being taught in business school.

 

[bpence]

The world, especially America, is a very simple place. If you want to buy a new Asian or European car/truck, that's your right as an American. If you want to buy a new TV from the lowest cost producer country in SE Asia today, that's your right as an American. If you choose to buy the imported wine from France, that's your choice as an American. Heck, a lot of us even have foreign made tractors.

BUT, don't ever whine to me about not being able to find a job, can't make any money 'cause someone else can make it cheaper, or that it's unfair to allow foreign competition. Get over it. Life is not fair.

As a died in the wool capitalist, I believe the best products at the best prices WIN. Period. Thanks to the analysts on Wall Street who only want to see this quarter's corporate returns and earnings, we seem to have lost sight of that. Heck, I work for FoMoCo and we're getting whacked pretty hard right now. Lot's of us may lose our jobs(both union and salaried), but we have to stand tall and keep fighting hard to build products that people want at fair prices. I have no feelings for the guy who goes and buys a new Lexus or BMW and then expects the American job market to have any compassion for him. I especially have no compassion if he's a Wall Street analyst and may get "downsized". Maybe someday those folks should quit bitching about corporate America performance and get a real job producing/providing something other than hugs and kisses for companies like Enron and worthless dot.coms.

It's as simple as can be.......buy American, when you can. Don't whine to me about quality of foreign automotive products being better than those built in the US. Been there, seen 'em, taken them apart. There's no difference. Why's a Lexus 400 cost $50,000 plus? 'Cause someone will pay it. Is it better than a Lincoln LS, Cadillac CTS, or a Chrysler 300M. Not by a long shot.

Buy whatever you want, but buy American, when you can. Our economic system is somewhat cyclic and from time to time we have come to expect downturns. Let's not be stupid and make it worse.

OK, I'm getting down off the soap box now.

 

[Bird]

Bob, I agree with you in most respects, but when you say <font color=blue>I believe the best products at the best prices WIN. Period.</font color=blue>, I just don't think it's quite that simple. It's true in many cases, but marketing strategies, advertising, company management (good or bad), and sometimes just dumb luck can make the difference between a company thriving or dying, regardless of the quality of their product.

I certainly like the idea of buying American, but when you can't find, or can't afford, the American product, or find that the American product is inferior, well . . . ., how many of us (including you, I'll bet) do not have foreign products in our homes?

 

[Buck]

<font color=blue>"Buy whatever you want, but buy American, when you can."</font color=blue>

I do. And it amazes me how often I find my American product was made in Japan. (ex. my JD tractor)

Your other point is well taken. Too many times we do assume that German, Japanese etc., products are better than American. This simply is not the case.

I too work for a company being stressed by overseas companies. It is very difficult, emotionally, to work hard and to find your market share decrease every year.

Americans are the most innovative people in the world. This is not due to a race or genetics, but rather due to our freedom and culture. We tend to invent industries, and when they become commodities, the other countries take over.

Personally, I think that I will have to address this by becoming my own boss, forming a small company and dealing with market changes more flexibly. If you look at our economy as a whole, it appears that this kind of individual downsizing is where the growth is.

Buck

 

[cowboydoc]

Bob,
Well said.

Buck,

"Americans are the most innovative people in the world. This is not due to a race or genetics, but rather due to our freedom and culture. We tend to invent industries, and when they become commodities, the other countries take over."

Boy isn't this the truth. The whole world rides on our coat tails on then stabs us in the back every chance they get. A few like Great Britain and Canada have proved to back us when the going got rough but most of the other countries just take our money, our ideas, our inventions, and spit in our face. That's what makes me sick about a global economy. It's not a global economy it's the USA spreading everything good about it to every little country in the world, protecting them when they cry out for it, and then getting no respect at all. I'm one American who's really grown weary of this type of treatment. Just look at what Saudi Arabia is trying to do now. After all we've done for them and all the years we've protected them. It's a [censored] shame. Look what China does to us. The lack of complete and utter disrespect one has to look no further than when our spy plane went down there. The only reason they even gave those soldiers back was because of the economic backlash. It's really a shame to me.

 

[kevincook]

I am a firm beleiver in capitalism. Americans do invent and create more technologies and industries than any other country in the world. That is why we have the highest standard of living of any place in the world. The problem with creating all of these technologies is that they eventually become commodities. This seems to happen faster and faster every year. The problem with commodities is that it is extremely difficult to make much money selling them. Especially if you need to complete with countries with extremely low wages. So we invent some new industry and pretty soon we lose the market to a lower cost producer. What we need to do is to stay one step ahead of the rest of the world and keep creating new technologies and industries.

If we stay one step ahead our standard of living will remain high. If we need to compete with someone making a couple dollars per day our standard of living will drop. We need to keep learning throughout our careers because the job you have today will probably be sent overseas sooner than later. You need to be able to start a new career with whatever the next great technology may be. Companies that can adapt to these changes will survive. Companies that insist they make the best buggy whips ever will not survive.

BTW I currently own a Ford and a Chevy vehicle. They are great vehicles but not the best I have owned. I owned an accord that was built in the US and it was a much better built vehicle. The American built Toyotas are also better built. This is Americans doing the work! I think the management culture is better from a quality perspective in the "Japanese" companies. Boy I bet that will be a controversial statement.

God Bless America!