I forgot about you 'more productive' guys. No insult intended but I will
remember you as well as you gave me another idea - thanks.
I don't know if many of you know that several European countries have limits
on the amount of hours a worker is allowed to work. In France it's 35 hours
and if the work can't be accomplished in the time allocated either it
doesn't get done or the company has to hire another employee. There is a
movement in Germany and France to get rid of laws such as these as it makes
French and German companies less competitive in the world market.
I think that Germany and France have the right idea although their workers
do get paid less, which may not be too bad as prices for commodities would
have to drop if the market couldn't bear the prices. It's the same situation
in the USA where in the higher cost labor salary markets such as NY and SF
the price of housing and other goods are more expensive than in lower labor
markets such as in FL or AL.
It's all relative.
I guess I'm also angry that when I look towards the future I see lots of
problems being caused by the 'exporting' of jobs to cheaper labor markets.
Blue collar jobs were the first that suffered the 'export' madness and now
it's 'white' collar jobs that are being exported. It was reported that
radiologists are threatened as the MRI, CAT scans etc are being sent
over-seas for review at far cheaper costs.
Lawyers in India and other English speaking countries are also doing more
work in connection with many legal matters in the USA at far lower costs.
And of course we all know about the export of computer programming jobs. 800
computer jobs for Wall Street firms are being eliminated and being sent
overseas. The salaries ranged from about $40,000-150,000. What the hell are
those guys supposed to do?
If this 'madness' continues we'll all be working at Walmart working for $10
per hour and selling products exclusively made in cheap labor markets. China
and other low cost labor markets are the beneficiary. Mexico is already
deemed to have 'too high' labor costs and production is moving out of there
also.
I am angry not just for myself but what's happening to the best country in
the world - the USA. I look into the future and fear for our country and
especially for our kids' future.
I see some politicians talking but doing nothing, and others just ignoring
the signs, and others, well, they're just too stupid to see the writing on
the wall! And our esteemed leaders are giving no guidance because they're
too afraid of losing their political donations.
Think about it. Think hard, if not for yourselves then for your kids. Think!
Mike
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