The Chevy Vega plant some years ago was almost totally automated. There were a couple people sitting at computer monitors watching for signals. It is not a new idea and there are far fewer jobs in the auto industry of at all levels.
Over 90 percent of the welding was done by Unimate Robots. The conveyor system, the sub ass’y were all computerized. There were very few workers.
Wages at auto plants and contractors are about half what they were in the old days. All new hirees get much worse health care and retirement. Would you work all day in an auto plant for 12 bucks an hour?
Star wars had been in effect at manufacturing plants and auto plants for decades.
The Lordstown plant where the Vega was built employs 5,000 people today. I find it hard to believe it was “almost totally automated” in 1970.
That’s not what they said.:rolleyes:
They want to open a new division in China and basically create a new Chinese company.
Cisco is a 40 billion dollar company that does business in a hundred countries? What do you think that they are going to move everything to China?
Between gonzomaxand HRoark43, this is the most bizarre and misinformed economics discussion I have seen. If the two of you are to be believed, we are going to become a nation of nothing but MLM reps selling Amway and diet pills.
Well, presumably there will be some longshoremen or something to unload the boats full of Amway stuff when they arrive from China.
Hopped up on diet pills! Win/win!
Nope. Robots.
Putting aside the OP’s obvious… impracticality, a while back I started a thread suggesting that the first duty of a company should be to the community it serves/is located in, not the shareholders (who should basically be satisfied with whatever returns they get with the company making a profit) and, surprisingly for the SDMB, the idea was shouted down as being horrible and stupid.
I can’t help but feel that the premise is worth revisiting- Company, Ltd is making a profit; so instead of finding ways to cut costs and increase that profit to pay greater dividends to shareholders (who generally aren’t the ones doing the actual work), the company should be looking into ways to hire more staff or upskill them or something that would be of more use to everyone overall.
IT news, careers, business technology, reviews | Computerworld The bizarre part is your ignorance. The misinformed one is you. Here is the head of the company saying exactly that.
Pick up your eyes.
I guess your version of being an informed person is to argue that you SHOULD NOT strike out on your own even though employers are not hiring. Your definition of informed is “16 million people should go out and find jobs that don’t exist… or rely on the Government to provide for them”. There is no other option for you. You absolutely abhor the idea of striking out on your own to make your own living. You come up with so many excuses for why it would fail. Is that your line of work? Coming up with excuses?
You have yet to explain here what is a better choice than starting your own business when you can’t get a job. I on the other hand have shown you numerous cases where this has worked. At least RickJay has his crusade against offshoring as an implied solution… what do you have?
““What we’re trying to do is outline an entire strategy of becoming a Chinese company,” Chambers said.”
That is what he said but it is not what he really meant in the exact sense of the word. Cisco wants to have a fully Chinese subsidiary of a global company.
Yes, I read the article. Show me where you think all of Cisco is moving to China and not simply making massive infrastructure investments there?
I mean do you even understand the concept of a “multinational corporation”? They typically operate in more than one nation.
You think it’s easier to start your own business than to find a job?
You never answered my question as to why you think there would be a market for new businesses if there isn’t one for new employees.
And what “business” have you started? You said you are an independent contractor for an MLM firm. You didn’t set up a manufacturing plant for their products. You aren’t getting financing. You aren’t managing a business. You’re just selling someone else’s products. A Girl Scout can do that.
Yes, starting your own business IS an option. IF you have an idea for a business, AND you have the skills and resources to do so. If that isn’t possible, you have to go pound the payment like everyone else and find a job. Maybe a good place to start is Inc magazines list of the 5000 fastest growing companies. And you don’t go around “begging for a job”. It’s not a freakin handout. Presumably you have spent the better part of your life developing skills and experiences that someone will pay you money for.
If you think I’m against offshoring, wow, you need to pay a lot more attention. I’m one of the few around here who SUPPORTS that sort of thing.
I explained to you several examples of easy-to-start businesses. Weren’t you reading? Or did you gloss over that part? If you did gloss over my examples do a find on words like “zazzle” and it’ll all be right there for you.
Sure can. Tell ya what, though, I made a pile going right through Ronald Reagan’s 11% unemployment period, which is worse than what we have now. It pretty much is your own business considering how independent you are. It’s no less of your own business than opening up a storefront to sell Kroger’s stuff. :rolleyes:
And if you are one of the 15 million people now who don’t have a job, or one of the millions who will not have a job even after the recovery? (Don’t even fool yourself into thinking we’ll ever get below 7% unemployment after this.) Do you keep pounding the pavement or acquire a marketable skill that will let you make money without relying on an employer?
I did. I got paid to sell. I just didn’t do it as a low paid cashier or car salesman working some boss’s hours.
Don’t blame my interpretation of your opinion of offshoring on me; blame the way you kept harping on the issue, which bordered on obsession.
MLM schemes only work for the first in the area. You quickly reach saturation levels and later entries won’t make the same amount. Also, those under you are, in a way, your employees as you get a cut of their sales.
Almost all MLM are borderline scam products, usually vastly overpriced, worthless supplements.
It was pretty tricky. he used words. He said" what we are trying to do is outline an entire strategy of becoming a Chinese company’. He had already prefaced it with praising the Chinese infrastructure and Chinese University culture.
Other posters have already pointed out that there’s an over-saturation of businesses in the “easy to start” category because, well, they’re easy to start and there’s a lot of people desperate for income.
There’s only so many lawn-care, dog-care, or general handymen jobs any given community can support, after all.
And you still haven’t answered my most basic question, which I will repeat for you. If the economy is such that people are unable to find jobs, what makes you think it will be conducive for starting their own business?
He is talking about building a Cisco subsidiary in China. Or maybe he secretly does plan to move the headquarters to China. Who cares?
You can not really have read the article and came up with that conclusion. Becoming a Chinese Company is not the same as opening up a branch there. He is quite clear.
Perhaps he is disoriented.