blarman, that reminds me of one of the stories about the first Japanese VCRs... When they decided to compete, they designed or copied or whatevered and created their production lines for assembly.

They basically put one person at each stage of the assembly line where any one component was plugged in, screwed down or added.

After they understood each of the steps, they methodically automated EVERY step, basically one step at a time, until there were virtually NO people on the assembly line at all.

So people in the US got mad at the Japanese for that. Moochers.

... and the whiners and moochers will attack you for that, since you've now kept more of YOUR hard-earned cash and can spend it or invest it where YOU want, AND you're apparently satisfied (enough) with your purchase!

They can't stand that!

Yeah, and in the early '70s I was pulling down about $9k a year with a BSEE and 'those auto workers' kept going on strike to keep their incomes 2-3 times as much as mine. I had and still have no sympathy for their 'plight,' and if you look at the percentage of the total workforce that's unionized... over the decades,... it looks like the unions' opinions and attitudes have largely fallen by the wayside.

My first car was a '69 GM car and it took me several years to discover and fix several manufacturing defects. One of my next cars was a '77 GM product and it took about three years to correct a design flaw that made the engine stall repeatedly and dangerously during warmup. And I fixed it.

Car companies... and other industries... that lose market share because of shoddy design or manufacturing deserve exactly what happens to them... except bailouts.

Apprenticeships are still viable in some fields, notably fine arts and studio arts. In those, the artist provides a cot and food as a rule and a certain stipend while the apprentice helps in the studio. I had a couple apprentices that were actually paid $10 a hour for 40 hours a week. BOTH of those were the most troublesome people I ever had work for me. They felt that I owed them something more than I offered anyone else since they weren't paid by me.

****When asked to sweep the floor, one kid asked, "Is this some kind of test?" *****

Oh Boy! I know what you're talking about! :D

To some extent, my experience parallels yours. I am probably a generation (or two) before you but it was true even then. I owned a retail business and half of every high school grad I interviewed for a part-time job couldn't work an electronic cash register that figured in the sales tax and change for you. When asked to sweep the floor, one kid asked, "Is this some kind of test?" I could go on, but I think I'm preaching to the choir.

Exactly my concern Herb. I want jobs made for workers in this country who want to work. That's also WHY I'm torn over this. Workers here seem to expect to be paid like the CEO for doing work on par with the janitor. There's nothing wrong with janitors, we need those to, but they aren't going to be paid the same scale as the CEO.

In AS, there came a time when the lines of workers were very, very long for people applying for jobs as janitors, sweeper and greasers, but nobody could be found who would or could step up and take a position of responsibility or a creative position. The skills had been trained out of the workforce. As I see it, today's high school graduates leave school ONLY fit to do one of a very few jobs - they can go to work at WalMart or it's cousins, they can enter the military if they have the ability, they can work for MacDonalds, or they go on to college.

Todays colleges and universities are packed with kids who don't have a clue how to make a living. Because it's not taught. In 2005 I completed two degrees at a good private university in the midwest. As I was retired, my efforts were a journey of personal growth, not a effort to prepare for a job market. But I had plenty of opportunity to talk to the kids about what their future goals for employment. Frankly, I was shocked to find that the vast majority were planning to work for these same min. wage positions that were available to them before they spent $100k on school.

As I got to know them better I also found out that most of these untethered souls were in school because Mom and Dad had worked and saved so that their kids could attend a good school. In short, they were in school to put off going to work.

That was just a fraction of the waste I saw. There was also the intent of the school. In almost every department of that school, they were teaching people to be teachers, not grade school or high school teachers, they were training university professors. The field did not matter, the goal was to replicate themselves.

I was studying Art and in this school, in the entire Fine Arts dept. there were 28 who graduated with me. Of that 28 there was a painting magor who got a job as a helper in a gallery for minimum wage, a girl who got a job at WalMart as a cake decorator, and I went into business for my self a couple years before graduating by opening my own studio and gallery. Those were the "successes" of the university. They made a huge deal of my studio in all their press for a couple years, but aside from the basic skills that were taught in the first year, the university had little to do with it. Nation wide there are fewer than two dozen art professors hired each year and most of these positions go to experienced professors.

When I was in high school a few decades back, a boy graduating would have taken auto mechanics, welding, mechanical drawing, machine shop and wood working - at least one class in each area. And IF they found one that appealed to them they could take 3 or 4 more classes in order to develop some level of competence in the field. When they would graduate they could get a starting job in that industry because they could DO something. They could enter an apprenticeship to further their education and their pay would be based on their value to their employer.

Today they leave school having no value at all. And they line up at the government feeding trough for housing, food stamps, transportation and more often than not, more tax dollar paid for re-education.

Very sad.

I'll repeat, the comment was overt sarcasm

Doesn't Walmart represent a new more profitable way of ding things? How may do they employ? More efficient delivery of goods and services. I know let's raise the pay the 15/hr week high school student... that will fix it.

Good morning stargeezer,
I have been on a partial strike for several years now. I have reduced my work force and efforts at growing the company, downsizing where I can. I will not work more than I must any longer, just to feed the parasites. At this point I am exploring all the possibilities. I would like to strike completely. If not for the people still in my employ and the wonderful customers and relations that depend upon me, I would liquidate tomorrow. I am tired of living in the darkness and long for sunny skies.
Regards,
O.A.

You going to join us "strikers"?????

I know... Not enough political pull in any one small business. Divide and conquer...They create the bulk of the jobs and innovation, but receive the least respect or consideration. We are being squeezed out of existence. The political moochers believe we are bottomless pits of money, to be harvested without repercussions... now, we as a nation, are suffering the consequences.

yes, banks. Small businesses don't get bailed out, don't you know

Hello Stargeeezer,
I quite agree. I have observed all of those factors at work. After thirty plus years, I want to sell my business and retire to Florida! I can't find a buyer I can trust to take care of my people. I have long term employees who are producers. They need and deserve their jobs. The tool and die business is a dying trade. We are essential to the nation's security and manufacturing businesses, but we are not appreciated, or properly compensated in today's market. I can find people who would like to liquidate my assets or remove me from competition, but I can't stomach those options. I find myself in a quandary... my loyalty to those who have reciprocated may keep me here until my people are ready to retire also... They are only about five years behind me. I am not hiring any more, and have through attrition, reduced my workforce to the bare minimum. When the last few are ready to go, I am out of here. I have approached them with the option of taking over, but none of them want the management headaches, or have the capital. Financing has all but dried up. Banks that used to loan me tens of thousands on a handshake now want to attach everything I own regardless of my exemplary credit rating. Michigan is not the industrial magnet it once was... it has become more of a repellent...
Regards,
O.A.

I continue to see a lot of comments regarding Walmart. I do not see a problem with their business model, but I do see a problem with the government policies that make outsourcing so attractive. The outsourcing of factory jobs is due to policies of both nations involved. One interesting story is that of Simplicity lawn mowers and how they refused to reduce the quality of their product in order to produce competitively and continue to sell at Walmart. They eventually had to outsource despite their wishes to remain a made in the U.S.A. company. Lawn mowers had to become disposable like VCRs in order to compete. Unfortunately many of the jobs went overseas. Investigate "The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart." Once done, you will find why most new mowers have such short lives. The ramifications vary from product to product, but sometimes the cost is in jobs and also penny wise and pound foolish since you will be buying replacements more often, and you may not have the same factory job you used to have that could afford the better product...

There's some info you can bite into boys. zzD is right in line with everything I've observed in my 60 years. That first point is so common in privately held companies that it's almost a disease. These folks started a small company where they did everything from purchasing to emptying the garbage and because it was a needed product or service they prospered. But at the end of their working years they just can't stand to see someone else running things. They are control freaks - that's what made them successful. Their solution is to just close the doors. I have three close friends who now live in FL who were the centerfold models for this path.

It's their business and more power to them if they decide to pull the plug when there is a lot of life left to them to enjoy. Unfortunately, those employees who were not prepared for the change suffer, but they had the same opportunity as their boss.

The second item, Unions, I don't even want to get started about. They are nothing short of extortion artists.

As one who has been in the industrial auction business for 44 years I can tell you a lot about why companies close. Not in the order of importance.
WW2 vets retiring. Selling their business because they didn’t want someone else running the company with their name over the door and the proceeds of the sale was their retirement fund.
Unions.
Upper management.
Other companies buying the company for their product line and then moving it to their own factory.
Obsolescence’s of the product
Obsolescence’s of the equipment in the factory.
Overseas competition.

The data can be found in nearly any mass production companies' annual report and their financial statements

Argo, do you have some data to support that view? Those of us who are or have been in business see contrary data. I'm willing to look, but that assertion has not been reality for most.