SOFT NEWS Foxconn Sees New Source Of Cheap Labor: The United States

[China Connection]

Foxconn Sees New Source Of Cheap Labor: The United States

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsav...-new-source-of-cheap-labor-the-united-states/

Foxconn Electronics – the China-based contract electronics manufacturer also known as Hon Hai – is planning to build manufacturing plants in the U.S., DigiTimes reports, in a story attributed to “market watchers.”

The company is reportedly evaluating “cites such as Detroit and Los Angeles.”

The story says that “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.”

Nice to think they will be hiring here…but still a fascinating insult to U.S. manufacturing prowess, dontcha think – the idea that actually making Apple products is a little too complicated for Americans to handle…

The story notes that Foxconn chairman Terry Guo noted at a recent event that the company is planning a training program for U.S.-based engineers, bringing them to Taiwan or China to take part in the processes of product design and manufacturing. According to DigiTimes, Gou said the program will give the engineers an environment to learn the Chinese language and first-hand experience in the manufacturing process. The story says Foxconn is in discussion with Massachusetts Institute of Technology over such a program.

No word on whether Foxconn plans to house U.S. employees in corporate-owned dormitories.

 

[DrBulldog]

this will not produce American jobs. They will import chinese labor with the blessing of the U.S. Government and pay them minimum wage, feed them tea and biscuits, and work them 14hr shifts. If they do not comply they can ship them back to china at the workers expense.

 

[Troke]

this will not produce American jobs. They will import chinese labor with the blessing of the U.S. Government and pay them minimum wage, feed them tea and biscuits, and work them 14hr shifts. If they do not comply they can ship them back to china at the workers expense.

Huh? If then, why not build the factory in China? Or are you figuring that cities will compete to make the 'best' deal so the factory will come to their town? With some good politics, they might pay the Chinese to come, kind of like building a stadium and giving the team owner all the concessions so he will bring a Big League team to Podunkville.

 

[Flippper]

this will not produce American jobs. They will import chinese labor with the blessing of the U.S. Government and pay them minimum wage, feed them tea and biscuits, and work them 14hr shifts. If they do not comply they can ship them back to china at the workers expense.

Thank you, you saved me the trouble.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Why import from China? What they'll do is hire immigrants that have already paid their way here and who are used to working those kinds of hours like most of the rest of the world already does. The immigrants will jump at the chance and look at it as a way to keep their green card active. O's administration will grant them an "exemption" and they won't have to pay the Ocare taxes.

But I laugh at the very idea that they'll build such a plant one way or the other in California, especially with the taxes they have on businesses.

 

[cuz1961]

cities will compete to make the 'best' deal so the factory will come to their town?

makes me wonder,,,
,,"you no pay us back in clunkers ! "

from my a o

Shasta EDC hosts Chinese delegation on South County tour

By George L. Winship, Editor
Posted October 16, 2012

ON TOUR -- During a three-week tour to both U.S. coasts, 20 business leaders from Guizhou Province, Republic of China, visited Redding, Anderson and Cottonwood in Shasta County as well as Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Arranged through a Chinese tour agency, 20 high-ranking business leaders from Guizhou Province in south-central China spent most of Wednesday, Oct. 10, touring three Shasta County businesses including Anderson-based Sierra Pacific Industries’ sawmill, Redding Electric Utility’s plant on Clear Creek Road and Burnsini Vineyards in Cottonwood.

“It was truly an honor for us to be a part of their visit,” said Tom Burnham, general manager for the local winery that produces and sells 1,500 cases of wine annually in five varieties and one special blend.

“For the better part of an hour we showed the group around our winery and opened up our tasting room for sampling and single-bottle sales,” Burnham said.

The provincial governor, Zhao Kezhi, “loved our Petit Sirah. He wanted to purchase 10 cases, but I didn’t know how to ship it out of the country,” Burnham lamented.

Instead, various members of the group bought more than 10 bottles to enjoy on the remainder of their visit, he said.

Speaking to the group through interpreters was a new experience for Burnham, he admitted.

“I was caught a bit off guard. I had to stop talking long enough for the interpreters to do their job and then it was difficult for me to remember what I had just told them,” Burnham said with a laugh.

Earlier in the day, the same group of state-owned business presidents and top executives spent 45 minutes touring a small-log sawmill at Sierra Pacific Industries as well as walking through Redding Electric Utility’s natural gas-fueled electrical generating facility on Clear Creek Road between Anderson and Redding.

“It was a pretty interesting group. Most of them were either company owners or CEOs,” said Mark Lathrop, community relations manager for Sierra Pacific Industries.

“They asked a lot of really interesting questions and they seemed very impressed with our mill. They were surprised by all of the computers, lasers and high technology that we use here,” Lathrop said.

Following the sawmill visit, the group sat down for a 45-minute question-and-answer session on natural resources as well as some refreshments served inside SPI’s spacious corporate headquarters before continuing on with their South County tour, he recounted.

“Mark Emerson welcomed them and told them of his recent trip to China last year. He went over there to learn about the state of sawmilling in that country,” Lathrop said.

The tour of Shasta County businesses was arranged locally by the Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County (Shasta EDC), following up on a request from a Beijing-based tour company, said Mark Lascelles, president of Shasta EDC.

“We were selected as a natural resource region providing some similar industrial resources as Guizhou (Province),” said Lascelles, contacted by cellular phone while he was taking a break from an Industrial Asset Management Conference in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, Oct. 16.

“We sent the tour company a list of 15 or 16 companies where we could arrange a tour and they chose three to visit,” Lascelles explained.

The same company had called Shasta EDC last year when an agricultural group showed interest in northern California, but that visit never panned out, he said.

The high-ranking business executives, including at least six women, represented manufacturers of cigarettes, dynamite and wire rope, a malted wheat-based distillery, banks and financial companies as well as those with interests in mining and energy, Lascelles said.

“Although the group had visited four very large cities on both U.S. coasts, they were very, very impressed with Shasta County,” he noted.

The visit proved successful for all concerned, Lascelles noted in a Shasta EDC blog.

“We have already identified at least four new trade opportunities as a result of this visit and we look forward toward further discussions with Guizhou,” Lascelles told the Anderson Valley Post.

http://www.andersonvalleypost.com/n...-edc-hosts-chinese-delegation-south-county-t/

/
fair use
/

 

[Argonath]

Fat chance...

53% of Americans dont want to work anymore.

 

[Moto]

They will hire people who are so desperate for work they will accept minimum wage for manufacturing assembly jobs. In the near future, there will be long lines for mindless assembly jobs at any wage in places like Detroit.

Eventually the gravy train is going to grind to a halt, and when it does we will find that, ironically, we will be the latest desination for cheap outsourced labor.

 

[China Connection]

Most young Chinese won't take on factory work for low money either. This is why Foxconn could be considering the U.S. They would not be considering the U.S. if they didn't have problems here in China. Foxconn will probably be looking in the Congo in Africa for monkeys that will take peanuts in payment for work soon.

 

[Kronos]

When USA 'dollars' are collapsed aka Weimar,
American-based worker-units may finally be able to SURVIVE upon
the dollar-units lavished by employers whose own currencies remain stronger.

Works for me.

 

[Housecarl]

They will hire people who are so desperate for work they will accept minimum wage for manufacturing assembly jobs. In the near future, there will be long lines for mindless assembly jobs at any wage in places like Detroit.

Eventually the gravy train is going to grind to a halt, and when it does we will find that, ironically, we will be the latest desination for cheap outsourced labor.

I worked for a big OEM outsourced manufacturer in the 1990s in CA. Yes a lot of the assembly work was done by "temporary" employees of limited skills both native born and immigrant.

The problem isn't getting the labor, it is the quality of the work they do, and that was a constant challenge at that company. That is one of the reasons some of the off shored companies are looking to come back. The costs per unit when QA and Rework is factored in doesn't get them much more.

 

[dero50]

That's what happens when you can't pay your debt......you get evicted. They're moving in.

 

[lassiesma]

Is this a large hint that the manufacturing sector sees that shipping will become cost prohibitive for goods within the next 10 to 15 years?