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If the economy
is getting better, where are the jobs?
By GREGORY
SMITH
Business Columnist
President George Bush says the “economy is showing signs of promise.”
Productivity — the amount an employee produces for each hour of work
— increased at an annual rate of 6.8 percent during the April-to-June
quarter. This was “stronger” than the government’s first
estimate of a 5.7 percent growth rate according to MSNBC news.
At the same time the labor department said new applications for jobless
benefits rose by 15,000 to 413,000 for the week ending Aug. 30. Corporate
profits are improving—layoffs are slowing. Economists appear pleased,
but many of your friends are still looking for work. If the economy is
improving, where are the jobs?
Much of the U.S. job growth in the past several months has come from lower
paying, less skilled jobs such as food, office assistants, and other service
sector jobs.
Going, going, gone. One reason jobs are harder to find is many of them
have been outsourced and sent overseas. Forester Research estimates by
2015 over 3.36 million jobs will be exported. In the 1990s, over 800,000
jobs went to China. (U.S. News and World Report) It goes without saying
that along with the evaporation of these jobs so goes $136 billion dollars
worth of annual wages. In June, the Conference Board sponsored the 2003
Strategic Outsourcing Conference. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
(June 27) over 125 executives attended this conference to learn how to
export jobs to other countries such as to “India, Philippines, China,
Malaysia, and elsewhere.”
A factory worker in China makes about $200 a month. On the other hand,
U.S. autoworkers make that much in one day or less. This comes at no surprise
that Hondas and Toyotas are outselling most American made automobiles.
On the wave of cheap labor, GM is the first U.S. automaker to build a
plant in China and expects to increase production by 50%. All-in-all this
country is importing more than it exports creating a huge trade deficit.
Crisis or opportunity? We live in a global economy. When it comes
to commerce, territorial borders disappear. China has the sixth largest
economy in the world and is growing at 8 percent a year, while the U.S.
is creeping along at 2-3 percent. More jobs overseas means more profits
for U.S. multinational companies. Currently, Wal-Mart is China’s
8th largest trading partner according to U.S. News and World Report spending
$12 billion last year on Chinese made products.
I don’t pretend to be an economist, but you don’t have to be
a rocket scientist to see a storm on the horizon. Most of us have felt
the impact of this economy on our wallets. Sure, healthcare and the government
sector jobs are growing by leaps and bounds. But, I am concerned that
for most of us the future is still in question.
In the “old days” good skills and a good education meant you
were guaranteed a good paying job. This is changing for many career fields
and certainly is not true if your job is exported. There is going to be
a long-term impact on your life style, not to mention your spending power.
Will this country become a nation of “haves and have-nots?”
In order for this country to stay competitive we need to readjust our
expectations, maybe even our wages. Every business must focus on innovation
and new job growth. Take advantage of every productivity enhancement available.
And for those who have lost their job, don’t be afraid to learn a
new career.
Free by e-mail: If you would like a free subscription to our newsletter,
please fax us your letterhead to 770-760-0581 or E-mail us the word “Navigator”
to navigator@chartcourse.com.
(Greg Smith is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and business performance
consultant. He has written numerous books and featured on television programs
such as Bloomberg News, PBS television, and in publications including
Business Week, Kiplingers, President and CEO, and the Christian Science
Monitor. He is the President and “Captain of the Ship” of a
management-consulting firm, Chart Your Course International, located in
Atlanta, Georgia. Phone him at 770-860-9464. More articles are available
at www.chartcourse.com.)
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