Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (65724)	7/2/2004 8:56:57 PM
From: RetiredNow	Respond to of 77400

Lizzie, time for you to move out of California. Things are much rosier outside. :) I'm feeling darn right rich out here on the east coast where unemployment's low and people have jobs.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (65724)	7/2/2004 11:29:04 PM
From: rkral	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 77400

OT ... Lizzie, have you seen this ominous exhortation? Ron Report urges U.S. firms to offshore more jobs kansascity.com A report by an influential consulting firm is exhorting U.S. companies to speed up offshoring operations to China and India, including high-powered functions such as research and development. In blunt terms, the report by the Boston Consulting Group warns American firms that they risk extinction if they hesitate to shift facilities to countries with low costs. That is partly because the potential savings are so vast, but the report also cites a view among U.S. executives that the quality of American workers is deteriorating. “The largest competitive advantage will lie with those companies that move soonest,” the report states. “Companies that wait will be caught in a vicious cycle of uncompetitive costs, lost business, underutilized capacity, and the irreversible destruction of value.” Boston Consulting, which counts among its clients many of the biggest corporations in the United States, admonishes them that they have been too reluctant rather than too eager to outsource production to “LCC's,” or low-cost countries. “Successful companies ask themselves, ‘What must I keep at home?' rather than ‘What can I shift to LCC's?' ” states the report. “Their question is not ‘Why outsource to LCC's?' but ‘Why not?' ” The report, released in May, has gone almost unnoticed amid generally upbeat news as strong economic growth has begun fueling an increase in jobs, diminishing public debate about offshoring. Particularly troubling is the report's information about confidential discussions with executives at Boston Consulting's client companies, many of whom conveyed low opinions of their American employees compared with labor available abroad. Not only are factory workers in low-cost countries much cheaper — well below $1 per hour in China, compared with $15 to $30 per hour in the United States and Europe — but they quickly achieve quality levels that are “equivalent to or even higher than ... (the) best plants in the West,” according to the report.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (65724)	7/3/2004 9:12:42 AM
From: RetiredNow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 77400

Hi Lizzie, to prove my point about only needing 75-100K new jobs creation per month going forward, I went to www.bls.gov and compiled some statistics on the total civilian labor force. Below is the average monthly growth in the labor force for each decade since 1950 (in thousands): Decade Ending --------------- 1960 = 69 1970 = 111 1980 = 197 1990 = 157 2000 = 143 2004 = 95 As you can see, as the demographics of our labor pool changes and the baby boomers start to retire in massive waves, the net average monthly growth in our civilian labor pool is slowing down dramatically. There just aren't enough people to replace all those baby boomers retiring. This means that our economy DOES NOT need to create as many new jobs as it has in the past to lower the unemployment rate. In addition, it means that wage growth will continue and that within a few short years as the baby boomer retirement accelerates, more and more people will find that if they want a job, there will be plenty available.