Oil Price Fallout: Jobs Coming Home?

[Rosco T.]

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5235731

(ping!)

"The rise in transportation costs are fueling what some economists are calling "reverse globalization." For instance, DESA, a company that makes heaters to keep football players warm, is moving all its production back to Kentucky after years of having them made in China."

(ping!!)

Other sectors of U.S. manufacturing may see a boost in jobs as well. Rubin says the U.S. steel industry is poised to reap benefits. "It's not just about labor costs anymore," says Rubin. "Distance costs money, and when you have to shift iron ore from Brazil to China and then ship it back to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is looking pretty good at 40 bucks an hour."

[skooooo]

1. Hey that should help the economy..!

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Ironic, but they will also come back

to a nation with no union movement to speak off any more

[napi21]

3. If the jobs come back, so will the unions. One of the big reasons

the unions are so weak now is that there are few jobs left where they have any good footing. Retail & service jobs are just not going to make it for them. You need the manufacturing jobs where it's too costly to replace inexperienced workers, and you can't just close one store down because some workers want to unionize like WM did years ago. I'm not sure how much this is going to do for the jobs that went to Mexico because the distance isn't nearly as far, but as much as it hurts ME to have to pay $4+ a gal. it could be a glimmer on the horizon for a lot of manufacturing jobs.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Those jobs that went to Mexico have left to points East

one reason Mexico's economy is also in the shitter

[rpannier]

5. Sometimes a crisis really can be an undiscovered opportunity

Now...if we can just get a cap on work visa's for tech people coming in from overseas to work at places like IBM (that are keeping wages low) maybe things will eventually get better sooner rather than later.