4 ms·

It works in Germany (and Nordic countries). Assembling washing machines is tedious, but not that hard, and it pays well enough to buy a flat or even a house aft

by jotm 4y ago

It works in Germany (and Nordic countries). Assembling washing machines is tedious, but not that hard, and it pays well enough to buy a flat or even a house after years on the job. Cutting and welding metal containers all day long pays even better. But these are industries where you don't job hop every couple of years - you do it for decades and your wage rises accordingly. It's hard work, but there's always people who can do it and want to do it.

UncleEntity 4y ago
They don’t share a border with a country with cheap labor and basically a failed state in the northern regions where you can just throw up a factory and truck the finished goods a few kilometers back over the border. When that is too much then just import the cheap labor and keep them in a state where they are too scared to report labor violations. If we could figure out a way to equally exploit the Canadians we’d be set for generations.
- Jensson 4y ago
  > They don’t share a border with a country with cheap labor Poland has been used for cheap labor ever since the fall of Soviet. Only difference is that Poland got a lot less cheap over the years, while Mexico seems to never stop being poor.
- jotm 4y ago
  Romania, Bulgaria (and soon likely Ukraine) are the Mexico of the EU. It's actually beneficial to the workers - 6 months at basically ~1500 Euros saved per month = 9000 Euros. 5-10 years of these "deployments" and you buy a nice house. But yeah, there's plenty of labour to feed smarter countries' industrial machines. I say "smarter" because the governments of RO/BG are absolute shite at improving conditions for startups/small business - you know, the things that become big business and bring in money, keep workers, etc given the chance and time. DE/NL/SE/etc know how countries become "developed".
mediaman 4y ago
Visit Rhineland, and you'll see the impact globalization has had on Germany. They are not immune to it. For example, Siemens has shut down a number of industrial plants over the years, shifting production to both Eastern Europe and China.

by jotm 4y ago

UncleEntity 4y ago

They don’t share a border with a country with cheap labor and basically a failed state in the northern regions where you can just throw up a factory and truck the finished goods a few kilometers back over the border. When that is too much then just import the cheap labor and keep them in a state where they are too scared to report labor violations. If we could figure out a way to equally exploit the Canadians we’d be set for generations.

Jensson 4y ago
> They don’t share a border with a country with cheap labor Poland has been used for cheap labor ever since the fall of Soviet. Only difference is that Poland got a lot less cheap over the years, while Mexico seems to never stop being poor.
jotm 4y ago
Romania, Bulgaria (and soon likely Ukraine) are the Mexico of the EU. It's actually beneficial to the workers - 6 months at basically ~1500 Euros saved per month = 9000 Euros. 5-10 years of these "deployments" and you buy a nice house. But yeah, there's plenty of labour to feed smarter countries' industrial machines. I say "smarter" because the governments of RO/BG are absolute shite at improving conditions for startups/small business - you know, the things that become big business and bring in money, keep workers, etc given the chance and time. DE/NL/SE/etc know how countries become "developed".

mediaman 4y ago

Visit Rhineland, and you'll see the impact globalization has had on Germany. They are not immune to it. For example, Siemens has shut down a number of industrial plants over the years, shifting production to both Eastern Europe and China.