The Top 40

Stopped producing people with the skills we need my @$$!

Tell me, what "skills" is this guy talking about?

There are plenty of examples at the link.

The linked article highlights Chinese flexibility as the key factor for why Apple finds China a good place to manufacture their products. The flexibility described was on the level of management, and the management then recruited its workforce into play. Management in the U.S. cannot be flexible because the union-endorsed labor contracts totally prevent this kind of flexibility.

The skills talked about in the linked article appear to be those associated with employees having the self-discipline to work additional unscheduled hours when needed and work at unusual hours when the job requires it.

7.6% of the private sector is unionized in the US. Unions are not the issue. I have worked in unionized environments and don't like them and wish we repealed Taft-Hartley. That said, Americans that I know work unscheduled OT and unusual hours when the job requires it. Happens where I work, anyway. No, I think it's not productivity either. US workers can be (when you get the unions the hell out of the way) very productive - ask Ford and Caterpillar - they are competitive with anybody. And sorry, but I won't register with the Slimes to find out the rest.

$17/day and lives in a dormitory next to the factory so when you decide to ramp up production in the middle of the night, you can roust them out of bed, give them a cup of tea, and tell them to get to work.

Try that in the USA

I'm another person whose odd-hour "part time" job (that has one twelve hour day) is often extended into further odd hours during the busy season. I am quite flexible, and not only worked all day Christmas Eve, I worked ten hours on New Year's day after working twelve hours the day before. Oh, and that regular twelve-hour day? It's on Saturday.

Not to say that Apple's reasons -- the real ones -- for using Chinese workers aren't valid. But to say that "America isn't producing" the sort of people they want is BS. Maybe we just want to be paid more (I make US$8.50 per hour by the way, but I don't do anything strenuous) than Chinese workers are allowed to ask for. I'll bet that's the real thing, though: I doubt Chinese workers in the "communist worker's paradise" actually have any power. I'll bet Apple finds that... convenient.

"I doubt Chinese workers in the "communist worker's paradise" actually have any power. I'll bet Apple finds that... convenient."

Bingo.

We've always bought Dells, which once were assembled in America - many here in Texas. They have been great computers, and I'm using my 2006 Inspiron to write this. Our most recent computer was assembled for us by the local independent computer store.

But now even Dell is moving production out of the country. I am curious how much the various levels of taxing contributes to these costs. While Texas has no state income tax, we have sales & use taxes (state and local), we have local property tax, we have local "personal property tax" (which is tax on all things used to produce income, both business assets and inventory)... These taxes are not affected by profit or loss, thus they add repeated expense regardless, over and above actual expenses, (and do not include employment related taxes or costs).