For the better part of three decades, a rough, bifurcated conception of the world has driven corporate manufacturing investment and sourcing decisions. Latin America, Eastern Europe, and most of Asia have been viewed as low-cost regions. The U.S., Western Europe, and Japan have been viewed as having high costs.
But this worldview now appears to be out of date. Years of steady change in wages, productivity, energy costs, currency values, and other factors are quietly but dramatically redrawing the map of global manufacturing cost competitiveness. The new map increasingly resembles a quilt-work pattern of low-cost economies, high-cost economies, and many that fall in between, spanning all regions.
In some cases, the shifts in relative costs are startling. Who would have thought a decade ago that Brazil would now be one of the highest-cost countries for manufacturing—or that Mexico could be cheaper than China? While London remains one of the priciest places in the world to live and visit, the UK has become the lowest-cost manufacturer in Western Europe. Costs in Russia and much of Eastern Europe have risen to near parity with the U.S. (See Exhibit 1.)
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at bcg.perspectives – The Shifting Economics of Global Manufacturing.
Related Posts
Reshoring in US – Call center jobs are coming back
After years of sending call center jobs overseas, companies are bringing the jobs back to America. Customers demanding better service and more use of social media to field questions are helping fuel the trend. Nearly 1,000 new call center jobs are planned at companies near Detroit. Dialog Direct, which already employs 2,000, announced plans to … Continue reading
Canada – Shifts to onshoring and no shortage of workers in Canada reports KPMG
For the past eight years, manufacturers in Canada have been fighting an uphill battle. From the downturn of the US economy and the rising Canadian dollar, to skilled labour challenges and off-shoring trends – manufacturing here has faced tough headwinds. Today, times are finally moving in a direction that helps rather than hinders manufacturers, according … Continue reading
Reshoring in US – Factory jobs returning matched the number lost last year
Although no one keeps precise statistics, the retreat from offshoring is clear from various sources, including federal data on assistance to workers hurt by overseas moves. U.S. factory payrolls have grown for four straight years, with gains totaling about 650,000 jobs. That’s a small fraction of the 6 million lost in the previous decade, but … Continue reading
Reshoring in US / How Walmart says it will do
In January 2013 at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention Bill Simon, President, Walmart US, promised to bring back manufacturing to the United States. He promised that in 10 years $50 billion in goods would again be produced in the United States. Continue reading
Is Apple reshoring ? / 2,000 new jobs in Arizona
Apple Inc. (AAPL) said it’s opening a new plant in Mesa, Arizona, that will create 2,000 jobs to make components for its products, part of a push by the world’s most valuable company to boost manufacturing in the U.S. Apple struck a deal to pay $578 million to GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (GTAT) to supply … Continue reading
Reshoring in US / More Manufacturing Coming Back
A study by the Boston Consulting Group documents what many manufacturers have quietly discovered in recent years — bringing production back to the United States from overseas carries some advantages Continue reading
Europe’s Offshoring / 770,000 IT jobs lost in 15 years
Offshoring, technology advancements and low growth have contributed to a massive reduction in IT jobs in Europe, with almost half the number of IT roles in the largest companies expected to exist in 2017 compared to 2002. According to research from The Hackett Group, in 2002 there were 1.6 million corporate IT jobs in the … Continue reading
Declining advantages for U.S. companies from offshoring
Three economic and financial experts forecast an improvement in U.S. employment as the continuing globalization of national economies continues to lift overseas wages, blunting the advantages U.S. companies derive from offshoring. Bob Baur, chief global economist of Principal Global Investors, Jim McCaughan, chief executive officer of Principal Global Investors, and Drake University law professor Hunter … Continue reading
Reshoring in US / A nascent trend ?
Recent days have produced a steady drip, drip, drip of good tidings about new jobs on America’s factory floors. Apple, Lenovo, LG Chem, and now Daimler AG have all recently said they plan to add manufacturing jobs in the US. President Obama hopes it’s a sign of the times, but economists say it’s, at best, a … Continue reading
Job Market Monitor 
Discussion
No comments yet.