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I think we agree. I'm a manager of two small departments, about 20 people. Let me say I'm Canadian too. About half of the positions I manage are entry level college requirement jobs, unionized and very well paying. I dread when I have to hire a replacement, the expectations of young folks today are off the charts.

I'm not an old codger, but no one entering the job market today wants to actually...work. My main function has turned into babysitting, new recruits don't seem to understand why I don't want them visiting Facebook for extended periods of time throughout the day. I read these whiny posts about how there are no jobs; yes there are, I've probably interviewed you and you thought you were all that. If you think you can give me a full days work and not call in sick dozens of times a year I will pay a good wage.

Location and pay?
 
so will it be apple's official position that robots are cheaper to employ overseas than domestically?

Its not that robots are cheaper than labor, they're not.
My former company moved it's operations over to china.
The buildings are 3 times the size for the same output. Why, it's all manual no robots.
Introduce robots, tireless machines that can do the work of many workers in one spot. The assembly line moves the unit but more importantly the robot works through shift changes, reduces the footprint required to perform the same amount of work, small manufacturing floors/building, less requirement for utilities and so on.
This is great for companies like foxconn. Increase throughput, decrease the size of assembly lines, free up floor space for other products thereby increasing profits.
 
Its not that robots are cheaper than labor, they're not.
My former company moved it's operations over to china.
The buildings are 3 times the size for the same output. Why, it's all manual no robots.
Introduce robots, tireless machines that can do the work of many workers in one spot. The assembly line moves the unit but more importantly the robot works through shift changes, reduces the footprint required to perform the same amount of work, small manufacturing floors/building, less requirement for utilities and so on.
This is great for companies like foxconn. Increase throughput, decrease the size of assembly lines, free up floor space for other products thereby increasing profits.

No heating, light, cooling, breaks, restrooms or anything else required also...
 
Because of 'rising labour costs'

Yep..salaries to rise rom $2 an hour to $3

Apple didn't get to be richer than the US by ensuring the workers who make their gear get treated well. No doubt Steve squeezed Foxconn's margins so they thought they might save a few bucks in suicide payouts by getting rid of people.

If Foxconn was based in Africa it would be regarded as 21st century slavery...but because it is China everyone thinks it is ok.
 
the video reminds me of last scene in caprica.

This has all happened before and it will all happen again.
 
I think we agree. I'm a manager of two small departments, about 20 people. Let me say I'm Canadian too. About half of the positions I manage are entry level college requirement jobs, unionized and very well paying. I dread when I have to hire a replacement, the expectations of young folks today are off the charts.

I'm not an old codger, but no one entering the job market today wants to actually...work. My main function has turned into babysitting, new recruits don't seem to understand why I don't want them visiting Facebook for extended periods of time throughout the day. I read these whiny posts about how there are no jobs; yes there are, I've probably interviewed you and you thought you were all that. If you think you can give me a full days work and not call in sick dozens of times a year I will pay a good wage.

There are two sides to every story. From my point of view it sounds like you're the type of guy who is okay working hard all day for a decent pay while your boss makes all the profit. Youths these days aren't soo gullible to except a high work / low pay job as yesterday.
 
There are two sides to every story. From my point of view it sounds like you're the type of guy who is okay working hard all day for a decent pay while your boss makes all the profit. Youths these days aren't soo gullible to except a high work / low pay job as yesterday.

If they can't accept the reality of the most forms of employment (whose main target is to fatten the owners), then they should find a job that is better suited to them. I understand that toiling away, so that my boss can get rich is sickening, but at the same time, I get paid (not well) to perform. It may not be "fair" for the underpaid masses to build up the bank accounts of their employers, but it is definitely not "fair" for employees to be siphoning funds from their employers because of laziness and lack of motivation.
 
There are two sides to every story. From my point of view it sounds like you're the type of guy who is okay working hard all day for a decent pay while your boss makes all the profit. Youths these days aren't soo gullible to except a high work / low pay job as yesterday.

Good post but you're going to have to explain. Yes, I am the type of guy that is ok working hard all day so my boss can make a profit, that's what work is about to me. I don't really get how this is a gullible situation for today's youth. I'm not going to slam you, I honestly don't get it. How is this inequitable?
 
If they can't accept the reality of the most forms of employment (whose main target is to fatten the owners), then they should find a job that is better suited to them. I understand that toiling away, so that my boss can get rich is sickening, but at the same time, I get paid (not well) to perform. It may not be "fair" for the underpaid masses to build up the bank accounts of their employers, but it is definitely not "fair" for employees to be siphoning funds from their employers because of laziness and lack of motivation.
Simply working those jobs falls into your category of lack or motivation.

Good post but you're going to have to explain. Yes, I am the type of guy that is ok working hard all day so my boss can make a profit, that's what work is about to me. I don't really get how this is a gullible situation for today's youth. I'm not going to slam you, I honestly don't get it. How is this inequitable?

Same attitude the day laborer who moved my lawn has.
 
There is one thing that robots will never be able to do that - the robots do not commit suicide and will not make bad press for foxconn. Only this, is already worth the money to deploy them!
 
We are all going to be murdered in our beds by Frida in 2019.

Poor Foxconn employees - it's not like they are getting paid ridiculous amounts of money. But these are some serious contracts FC have so I can understand wanting to remove any human error.
 
Wall-E future is here, humans :D

It's depressing in a way that we will be turned into total consumers - on the other hand I am glad no one would have to do monotonous repetitive work if they can feed themselves and their families in some other way.
 
I think I know why Foxconn is investing in robots: upgrade their factories outside of China.

I believe Foxconn has production lines in Brazil, Mexico, and Central Europe. It may be these factories will be the first to get production robots before the Chinese factories do.
 
Interesting. Best Buy founder Richard Schulze never went to college. Steve Jobs was a college dropout yet he has top Ivy League business school graduates and PhD's working for him. Perhaps Richard and Steve should have followed your advice.


What's your point? That there are exceptions to any rule?
 
If college is a valuable thing, then people will be able to get a loan from a bank to go to college, with the knowledge that they will be able to pay it back in the future.

Yeah right. And they pay the interest for that massive loan with what exactly?
 
Yeah right. And they pay the interest for that massive loan with what exactly?

Uh... projected future cash flows from WORKING in a JOB? How exactly do you think loans are paid off? Pixie dust and magical taxes that come from the sky? Student loans, whether made by governments or by private companies, are paid off, in full, by GRADUATES using MONEY they EARNED as a result of going to college.

Maybe a little cost consciousness would pull prices down? Nah, only a crazy economist would think that.
 
Call me Lenin...but this push to automation is going to be the cause of much civil discomfort; all while prices still rise and corporate profits soar.

Apple is one of the worst in this regard. 70B+ in liquid assets, incredible market shares...and laughable philanthropic "efforts". What a joke.
 
Wall-E future is here, humans :D

It's depressing in a way that we will be turned into total consumers - on the other hand I am glad no one would have to do monotonous repetitive work if they can feed themselves and their families in some other way.

The future has been here for a long time. Every advance in technology displaces human labor, but leads to efficiencies, making goods more affordable. It makes complete sense to use robotics to replace human processes. Less errors, no attitudes and better quality.

Even when machines start creating machines, it wil only be because of human intelligence behind it. Whether artificial intelligence ever develops to the stage of complete independence from humans is the stuff of speculation (or science fiction), but it'll take genrations before us to know the reality of that.

Good story, btw, MacRumors.
 
If workers in China are being replaced with robots, where is the money to be saved?why not just bring manufacturing back to the US?
 
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