A change is coming. I can feel it. Companies may start recognizing that their bottom line doesn’t paint as rosy a picture as they had hoped.
I’m talking about outsourcing, of course. The past several years have seen a mass exodus to China and India for cheap labor and lower production costs for companies. Consumers across the developed world have seen some cheaper prices, and corporation profits have just been enormous! I’m not complaining…I’m glad for them actually. America is built on capitalist principals and if our corporations can make money elsewhere, then go for it.
However, there was a time when our national organizations had a certain amount of American pride. National security was more important than an extra nickel. The workers were making progress too through labor unions. Then the labor unions got greedy. The government got greedy and taxed too much. Companies recognized that consumers wanted cheaper products. And they got greedy too. So, off to China they went with their processes and their formulas and their manufacturing.
It isn’t only America…oh no! Other countries have seen their national companies take flight to the lands of cheap labor. At least one company (and I’m guessing many more) has realized that you do get what you pay for. Not an American company in this instance….but a German company.
Steiff is a German bear maker. They’ve been making bears for more than a hundred years. Cute little bears. Other stuffed animals too…expensive ones. The decision makers at Steiff decided that they could make more money if they moved their production to China. After all, labor was cheap and a move meant a better bottom line for the company.
It only took them four years to figure out that not only was labor more expensive because of high turnover and ongoing training needs; attention to detail was lacking too. After all, when you expect consumers to pay $300, $800, or even more for a stuffed teddy bear it darn sure better be perfect. Add the three-month shipping time back to Germany and it was a losing proposition.
So Steiff is going home; back to Germany. Good for them.
American companies would come home too if we as consumers demanded it. But I have a better idea. Let’s grow new companies that will put America back to work and send the International companies on their way. We don’t need them; they obviously don’t need us.
As our services and manufacturing jobs go offshore to India and China, we can decide to quit reading the papers that contract with them there. We don’t need their bikes and lead filled toys; we don’t want their tech support (shoot, we can’t even understand what “Steve” from India is saying to us anyway!) We certainly don’t want them delving into our county records learning who we are, where we live, how we sign our signatures, or heaven forbid, accessing our social security numbers. So what can we do?
As title examiners and abstractors, we can make a small difference. We can market ourselves as privacy friendly.
Let’s emphasize the fact that the consumer is safer using an established local company instead of a stranger offshore in a distant land. Call the newspaper…put out flyers…tell anyone who’ll listen. You’ll be surprised at the people in your community who have no idea how accessible their information is to the world. They’ll demand a local reputable firm for their next real estate transaction.
Then perhaps the companies that are sending services offshore to get cheap labor will learn that they aren’t really saving anything at all.
German teddy bear firm brings production back from China – USATODAY.com
