American workers lack the flexibility, diligence and technical skills of foreign workers, says China

America’s Forbes magazine website recently published an article titled “The End of Chinese Manufacturing and Rebirth of U.S. Industry,” which claims that America will recover its superior position because of its advanced technology manufacturing industry. The article also insinuatingly mocks China for facing a manufacturing industry bubble, pointing the finger of blame at the “made in China” industry. This year, there have been many articles like the one published by Forbes, to the point that individual American representatives have started making a big deal out of nothing, shouting that they want to pile together all products with a “made in China” tag and incinerate them. The government wantonly publicizing the “made in America” industry, not to mention the media following suit in the hype, exactly embodies the communal worry, or even the confusion and lack of confidence, of America toward “made in America.”

According to China.com.cn (Original Article in Chinese), the problem is American workers.

For the past two years, the employment section of the American manufacturing industry has ebbed. In addition to reasons like the increased cost of foreign manpower, there are also temporary and chance elements like currency fluctuation and rising prices of transporting energy from abroad. America wants to reverse the economic imbalance and needs to make the best choice in the field of manufacturing. Relying on superior industry — the advanced technology industry — to revitalize the entire manufacturing industry has already become the common consensus among many insightful people.


When all is said and done, the biggest problem the American manufacturing industry is facing is a problem of talent. In the end, this is the true focus of America’s anxiety. The relocation of the American manufacturing industry is not merely due to cheaply priced foreign manpower. Apple executives all recognize that the flexibility, diligence and technical skills of foreign workers all far surpass that of their American counterparts.

However, the anxiety over the talent issue has been drowned out by shouts of “the American manufacturing industry has again returned.” A survey in October 2011 by Deloitte Consulting Services showed that in 2011 the American manufacturing industry had 600,000 vacant positions, with the reason being that companies could not find workers with suitable technical skills.

Is China right? Or is this just an excuse for companies to outsource and for the Chinese to gloat?

watchingamerica.com...

reply to post by deessell


The problem is not skill! It is that now in America if you don't havve a million dollar education they assume wrogly that you can't or don't have the ability. My grandfather was a machinist, not just a machinist a very good machinist, he built parts for the laser reflector put on the moon by the appollo astronauts. He never attended any secondary schooling. My father, same story no school after high school, excellent tech math and machining skills just by nature, now retired. Machinist, electrician,mechanic, hvac tech.... I can't afford to go to school, and wait 5 years for a degree I don't need for skills I already have. It is a lack of confidence in anything but a piece of paper that can admittedly be bought not earned. So what gives? They can't honestly say that people in America 80 years ago were more capable with no education, than people today with a highschool eductaion. It is a lack of belief in Americans, the is faulsely held by the elites, that unless you can afford to pay"the price" you aren't smart or skilled enough for any of the good jobs.

reply to post by deessell


Naaaaw, we just don't like bunking 20 deep in something the size of an efficiency apartment, nor do we want someone up our a$$ every millisecond of production.

reply to post by inverslyproportional


Yes, it's quite ironic isn't it. Never before have we been so well educated, yet there are no jobs for many.

I'm sorry that you are unable to afford to go to university. I am slowly working my way through a masters and sometimes I worry if if is a good investment.

reply to post by deessell


I personally think that if the U.S. companies would stop outsourcing and bring back the manufacturing of their products to the U.S.; this would greatly help the job market and the economy.

Look at the many products you buy...and what do they say? Made in China.

Perhaps a law should be passed; no more outsourcing! You need to keep it in the U.S.

I think that what they meant to say is American workers are not willing to work like slaves for peanuts and then extol the praises of their wonderful employers.

Just my opinion.

Jobs are coming back within the next 3 years many companies will be re opening plants . Americans output is 3 times the Chinese. our company is spending a BILLION dollars in the US and right now 82% of our products are built here going to 90% within 5 years

Originally posted by mikellmikell
Jobs are coming back within the next 3 years many companies will be re opening plants . Americans output is 3 times the Chinese. our company is spending a BILLION dollars in the US and right now 82% of our products are built here going to 90% within 5 years

At first I thought you were kidding, but I just read this:

Manufacturers in the Chicago area are busier than ever lately, and they're "begging" for more workers trained in advanced manufacturing skills like CNC machining, said Redd. It's not just in Chicago. Factory work has picked up considerably nationwide, making skilled workers a valuable commodity, said Marc Smierciak, associate dean of instruction at the vocational college. "Employers right now need workers with these high-precision skills. But the mismatch is that most of America's unemployed workforce doesn't possess these skills," Smierciak said. So manufacturers are racing to trade schools like Wilbur Wright, one of only seven schools in Illinois that offer an accredited CNC course, and snapping up newly-minted factory workers as quickly as they can. The demand for his graduates is so intense that last year's CNC graduating class scored a 100% job placement. "It's a wonderful accomplishment for us," said Smierciak. It was the first time the school achieved perfect placement in the program's 15-year history. Smierciak expects this year's graduating class to meet with similar success.

finance.yahoo.com...

Diligence and technical skills? Yes perhaps Americans are falling short in those areas, but flexibility? No I do not think so.....Americans are some of the most flexible people I know.....we multitask like nobody's business, we jump through multiple hoops with our eyes closed.

I think that while other countries have better education systems and they are more task focused, we still have something very unique to offer the world, and that is our ability to create and innovate....that is our true talent that needs to be harnessed. We need more innovators, creators and entrepreurs, we need people with the ideas of the future, that is what will keep us two steps ahead of the other nations.....technical skills mean nothing if we do not have the right people at the helm comming up with the future products and services that the technical guys build.

That is why we have to return to a strong liberal arts focus in schools, science and math are great and we need engineers and scientists, but without the creative people who think outside of equations, no new products will be created.

reply to post by Wildbob77
I second that! You just nailed it on the head right there. They want us to be willing to live like indebted slaves, that are absolutely greatful for all that they give us. Since it is THEIR world after all, we are just lucky to be alive in it.

reply to post by inverslyproportional


Yes, but you have to admit that there is an abundance of labour, yet a lack of capital. There in lies the problem.

Here's the problem...

Every year, we, the American taxpayers, pay for higher educations for thousands of foreign students... many Chinese... to attend our universities and get advanced degrees in fields such as physics, medicine, electrical engineering, etc.

AT the same time, we refuse to invest more in our own education system and reward our very own hard working students with the same "Free Ride" scholarships we give to foreign students in the name of 'friendship.'

This needs to stop. Now. We have just as many smart, hard-working young people as any other nation in the world, and we need to quit burdening them with oppresive student loans (thanks again, soulless bankers!). Let our children breathe and give them some help along the way, then let's see what China says in 20 years.

./endrant

reply to post by Dreine


Starred

I feel the same way, it just seems funny they complain about our performance on a field that isn't level and they always get the ball everydown. Give us at least the same help since it is our country investing the money, I mean damn. I know people that have more loan debt than their 20 dollar an hour job can pay back.

The lack of any word about Chinese state wages speaks volumes ..... I have never heard of a US factory where they had to put nets outside the windows to stop workers from jumping to their deaths...

The Chinese would be looking for more flexibile workers.


Source

Policy is probably not one of China's strong points, as elsewhere. Let's face it, not everyone wants to be a slave to the Industrial scene - regardless of the job prospects.

You also hear this kind of talk in the UK by companies who take on foreign workers and justify it by saying that they are better workers.
Fact of the matter is they just can't resist the cheap labour foreign workers bring.
You want to compete against foreign workers? you work for less money or even better, you work for FREE!

reply to post by inverslyproportional


Agreed.

I'll give you an example, and what first opened my eyes to the issue.

Back in 1999 my cousin graduated from Embry Riddle university... a school that teaches flying and aerodynamics studies. Possibly the best such school in the world, and as such, it's expensive! EVERY semester my cousin and his parents were incurring almost $20k in student debts, even with a few grants and scholarships. My cousin worked three jobs on top of going to class. It almost burned him out, mentall and physically.

So, a large number of my family drove to Daytona Beach to witness his graduation. What stood out to me, in the auditorium, was that MOST of the class... I'd say almost 2/3 by quick glance, were from the Middle East. You could see their parents/families in the stands, women with their heads covered and many men wearing Middle Eastern styled clothing, all over the place. I remember wondering whether they had to pay the same exhorbitant costs that my cousin would have to, if they were rich, or if they were getting some amazing loans.

I asked my cousin about it later that night at dinner, and he said from what he had been told by those students was that most, if not all, of those educations had been paid for by the United States Dept. of State, and other entities.

That made me wonder how much we give each year in student loans to foreign students to get world-class educations on the back of the American taxpayer...

United States Foreign Aid

Well, half the story has been discussed in this thread...

The rest of the story, however can be summed up with "American regulations place far more restrictions and allow less profit for corporations than Chinese regulations do." The worker salaries are only a small part of why our manufacturing jobs have fled America in droves. Once you start adding up the cost of simply doing business in the USA, the taxes, the permits, the penalties and directives related to environmental protection, the restrictions, and now the health care mandates, the actual direct compensation of workers becomes a drop in the bucket... BUT it is the one aspect which the US government latches onto because it is the one aspect over which the government isn't directly visable as the fall guy. Instead of Americans shaking their fists at the feds over payrolls, they'll always shake their fists at the "greedy corporations." Restore the free market and, 100% guaranteed, the cost of shipping finished goods outweighs the savings of cheap labor and the jobs would return in droves to the US... but those damn regulations and mandates, man, they're hanging out there like a stubbed toe just waiting to catch the next sharp edge you walk past.

reply to post by Dreine


HI Dreine, Is this a really good school? My step nephew is just starting there. He is a really smart kid and his mom can afford to send him. So, I was just concerned that this school might be like some of the low tier vocational institutes.

reply to post by fnpmitchreturns


It is possibly the best aeronautical school in the world, you should be proud of your nephew! Embry Riddle has world-class facilities and faculty, it is very impressive.

I wish him the best of luck in his studies.

PS... Is is NOTHING like ITT or things you see on late night commercials...