I read this when I was updating my blog at the Huffington Post. I thought you may like it. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...-workers-threaten-mass-suicide_n_1196345.html
China's reindustrialization is beging to see signs of unionization, labor disputes and improved working conditions. It is only normal societal evolution. China will only be able to hold on to the title of the worlds work shop as long as it can keep its workforce in check. Globalizations other side is briniging up the lowest of the low paid workers. The new emerging class of middle class chinese citizens do what most suburban people here in the states do, upgrade and maintain thier standard of living. They want cars, homes, modern appliances, etc. Foxcon seems alot of HR issues that are not being addressed by upper manangement and have become topical and a daily headline risk. What ever they are doing inside thier corperation will cause a shift in labor policies for the entire chinese nation. Just trying to get out of here, Akuma
No I live in Chimerica. The balance of power is in the two nations.There is a noticeable change of culture betweeen the goegraphic areas. Labor for manufacturing is not performed for the most part in the US. The US went through its industrial era in the last century and much of the social events that are occuring in China happend here in the states. The is a class system here in America wether it is acknowledged or not. Barriers, roadblocks, and delusions of a good life are placed in the path to prosperity. For the vast majority of average US citizens they will see a decline in standard of living for the next 20 to 30 years. The average Chinese citizen will see a rise in income, purchasing power, and social standing for the next 10 to 15 years. If you are not part of the socio economic elite you can either accept your fate as a consumer wage debt slave or go to another country. China will see more growth and economic technological advancement in the the next decade it will overshadow any society of the last 2000 years. They are runnning one big production facility over there and will not stop unitil they produce sell and resell to all the world. The leadership over there has a quite grand plan of controling all under heaven kind of like the old Han or Qing empires did. It is only a matter of time before direct influence here in the states is felt. Just trying to get out of here, Akuma
It's irrelevant to say the least - every single basic laborer can be replaced by industrial robots - and the price for labor continues to rise and the price for the robots continues to fall. People often look at companies and see what they have to offer that is tough for other companies (high entry) for example a patent or some special product or skill. The same should be looked at for countries - China just offers cheap labor and alot of it - but no specific great skills that can't be replicated elsewhere. However the cheap labor and lots of it will be gone and the robots will be in charge of production - some will be in China - others wherever else. It is or soon will actually be cheaper to have 1000 robots in a factory in the boonies in the U.S. with one or two technicians watching over them compared to 1000 Chinese workers, when you consider 24/7 operation, no health care costs or issues, no complaints, no runaways, no suicides, no bargaining power, etc, etc. Not there 100% yet, but 5-10 years for sure.
until something changes, transportation is the killer. So it makes sense to geographically locate either near the resource you need, or the customers you need. But I agree, these days, you can set up shop just about anywhere in the world. But to reiterate, I think transportation costs are more of a concern than labor or taxes.