Colonial and imperial Western countries are running out of places to exploit as many young Asians refuse to be slave labors. Many African nations don't have the infrastructure and not stable enough to be a manufacturing hub. Sadly, Ethiopia used to be successful in attracting factory investment.
Young Asians would prefer gig jobs than factory jobs. But the most important thing is underpay and treatment, most service jobs have better pays and less stressful. Beside, being a maid in East Asia or Singapore would earn you much more.
As for bringing jobs back to the US, most US factories have even greater difficulty in finding workers. Just look at those states that change laws to allow child slave labors.
In the past, manufacturers might simply have moved to less expensive destinations. That’s not so easy these days. There are nations in Africa and South Asia with large labor pools, but many are politically unstable, or lack good infrastructure and trained workforces.
Clothing brands were stung when they expanded into Myanmar and Ethiopia, only to find
. Bangladesh has been a reliable base for producing clothes, but restrictive trade policies and clogged ports have kept it from making much beyond that.
India has a huge population, and firms seeking alternatives to China
. But even in India, factory managers are beginning to complain about the difficulties of retaining young workers. Many young people prefer farm life supported by state welfare programs or choose gig work in cities over living in factory dormitories in industrial hubs. Trained engineers leave factories for IT jobs.
Christina Chen, the Taiwanese owner of a furniture maker that sells to American retailers such as Lowe’s, decided to move her factory out of southern China four years ago, hoping it would be easier to recruit. She first considered industrial zones near Ho Chi Minh City, but she heard nightmarish stories about high worker turnover and soaring wages.
She set up instead in rural northern Vietnam. Her floor workers are typically in their 40s and 50s, and some can’t read well, she said, which requires explaining tasks verbally and using visual demonstrations. But her workforce is more stable, she said.
She treasures her younger employees who can read. She involves them in decision-making, invites them to meet her American buyers when they visit, and shares pictures with them of the company’s tables and chairs in U.S. stores.
(Is this Taiwanese lady retarded? Meeting with American buyers mean nothing. Better pay them more.)
