Wednesday, January 7, 2009

In Reverse, Chinese Sending Low-Wage Jobs Back To U.S.

“Our standard of living has gotten so high that we can’t pay competitive wages for many jobs,” Lin Biau, Chairman of the Chinese Workers Union today told a hastily arranged Beijing news conference. “So we are sending these jobs back to the United States.”

The new policy represents a reversal of years of American jobs headed to low-wage workers in China. As China has become wealthier, it has been increasingly difficult to find employees willing to take low-wage jobs.

“We hear there are a lot of people in Michigan who don’t have jobs,” Mr. Lin told reporters. “Perhaps they will be able to take over the manufacturing jobs that our people will no longer accept.”

Chinese workers in coastal zones are now enjoying high-paying jobs, living in attractive condos, and driving luxury cars. Just a few years ago, they were earning less than a dollar a day “and grateful for those jobs,” Mr. Lin said.

“We look at the United States as a place where there are enough workers willing to take on low-income jobs that our factories can succeed in places like Ohio and Illinois,” Mr. Lin said. “We see America as where China was 10 years ago—filled with underemployed workers who would be grateful for any job.”

Mr. Lin said that while Chinese factory owners were exploring opening up branches in American cities with high levels of unemployment, it was unlikely that China would import any of the goods made in those factories.

“’Made in America’ is unfortunately an international symbol of poor quality,” Mr. Lin said regretfully. “You know how it is. You buy something from America and it falls apart right out of the box. We may export jobs to the United States, but until quality improves, the stuff we have made over there will stay over there.

“Americans first have to learn how to work again,” Mr. Lin said diplomatically. “I’m sure quality will come later.”

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