PAY PEOPLE MORE!
“There aren’t any people to do the work,” Ulbrich told Business Insider editor in chief Matt Turner at the recent World Economic Forum.
Some corporations, like General Motors and Intel, have — to the delight of the Biden administration — already announced plans to shift more of their supply chains and manufacturing back to US shores, often called “on-shoring” or “re-shoring.” The US government is also investing billions of dollars to boost the domestic production of electric vehicles, semiconductor chips, and batteries.
Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world’s changing climate, and, more recently, the attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea have thrown a wrench in global supply chains. These factors, along with mounting fears of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, have persuaded some US businesses to bring the production of their goods closer to home.
On the other hand, Susan Golicic, a supply chain professor at Colorado State University, said that the types of manufacturing jobs created by on-shoring have typically paid more than many service industry jobs — and thus should be attractive to many Americans, whether they already have jobs or not.
Due in part to this near-shoring shift, Mexico eclipsed Canada and China last year to become America’s top trade partner, accounting for over 15% of goods exported and imported by the US. Last May, Mexico’s global exports were the second highest on record.
The labor costs of manufacturing in Mexico are also less expensive than in China, where manufacturing wages have risen in recent years, Andres Abadia, chief Latin America economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, told BI. Mexico’s median age is roughly 30, he added — compared to nearly 40 in China — which has contributed to a strong labor supply.
But if the US wants to move the needle toward domestic manufacturing in the years ahead, there are a few steps it could take to boost its labor supply. Colorado State’s Golicic said businesses can provide competitive pay and benefits to attract workers — and may also need to resort to more contract or subcontract employees.
Isn’t Mexico in America?
What is with this lately? I really don’t understand. I know you’re not actually confused when someone says America because no one uses America/American for anything but the people/place of the USA, and they never have. So what exactly are y’all trying to achieve? All I know is that some people get a strange smug satisfaction from pointing it out, but why?
You’re right, I’m not confused, I can guess from the headline that made in America means not the continent America. But that makes it so strange. Why don’t you say made in the USA if that what it means?
Because everyone, for ages, has used and knows that America/American is the same as the USA and its people? It’s not only commonly accepted but actual official nomenclature.
Maybe other American, non-US, people are tired of it? Mexicans are Americans. Chileans are Americans. Canadians are Americans. Gringos are Americans.
America is a continent, not a country. As a non-gringo, I am still American.
But the United States like to think they are unique and stand alone in the world, so they have cooped up the “American” name.
That’s the weird part. Not people saying the objective truth that the United States are not “America”.
Ah so it’s not about your desire to call yourself an American as much as that it bothers you that the USA is a hegemon and gets to dictate to a large degree how things are spoken of and referred to?
But, ask yourself this then: what else would they refer to themselves as? Unitedians? Statesians? US-Americans (you absolutely know people will still be annoyed that the word America is in it, and anyway - everyone would still end up just saying ‘American’).
I personally think the whole arguement is sort of hilarious because you and many other non Statesians think it’s not fair that you can’t call yourself American because you live on the American continent. Meanwhile, every Statesian I have met prefers to refer to themselves by the state they’re from rather than call themselves an American.
There’s a reason we call them gringos.
And you seem to misunderstand: you were the one raising the stink because someone mentioned that Mexico is America. You said that mentioning that is weird. It’s not because it’s an objective truth.
Mexicans are Americans even is gringos think it’s weird or think that is weird they say that. That’s all.
And mostly every South American will say they are from their country and not that they are “American”. But that’s mostly because you never want to look like a gringo in South America or risk putting a target on your back.
No, you are wrong. I said I don’t understand why people like to pretend they don’t know what it means when someone says something is American.
You are fully justified in calling yourself an American if you are Mexican. But if you’re hoping to do it and have people generally understand that you’re talking about the continent and not the country - well kudos to you but you’ve got a real uphill battle.
In any case, the comment you answered to literally just said “Isn’t Mexico in America?”. Which means all of that is “Made in America”. Which makes the headline wrong and untruth.
You said that, somehow, saying that is weird? Is that objective truth weird to you? An iPhone made in Mexico is an iPhone Made in America. That’s all.
Again, I said I don’t get why people play dumb about it. Sure, say it’s made in America when it’s Made in Mexico, but don’t act all confused when literally everyone thinks you mean the USA.
Isn’t Germany in Afroeurasia?
Yes, Mexico is a part of the Americas. Seems to always mean the United States only.
I recently learned that Mexico’s full name is The United States of Mexico, so we actually share the US part of our official names, but not the America part. So it would be more confusing to call Mexico America, and more confusing to call the USA just the US
United States in America
That’s why I never say “the United States”, because it’s ambiguous and half the people will think I’m talking about Mexico.
So am I wrong to say that the same folks who pushed for business and manufacturing to move to Mexico are now saying that they shouldn’t use the made in America label?
