Last edited Wed Nov 10, 2021, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I am a partner in an international trading company. We work with lots of US OEMs on their engineered component requirements.

Back in the mid-90's, in my last job that required office presence, I convinced my management to get me a dial-in access to our materials database. That allowed me to get quality work done at home, communicating real time with China suppliers (saving days on getting/giving actionable responses), and basically show up at the office when I had to - strategy meetings, engineering meets, material review board meetings, supplier meetings, etc.

I started a business in 2000 with a couple of folks that I worked with for many years. Our home office is in Dover, NH, but I live in Dexter, ME....about 4.5 hours away. Hell of a commute. So, never spent a lot of time in Dover, but no need....I get my part of the business done and we are making money.

I never understood why they never took advantage of at least a few days per week working from home. But I guess it was just habit or something ingrained.

One partner was very skeptical and almost against it but he has come around. I think he has some ego issues.

Prior to 2000, I worked with the best manufacturing team I've ever been associated with in Pittsfield, ME. We were the best at new product development. We had on-site SMT/board-level testing with insourced Plastics Injection Molding (my contribution). We built micro based smoke sensors that became the absolute gold standard in the world smoke detection market. Where, there's as much value at not-smoke alarming as there is in announcing a real fire condition. Bar none, we could bring a well designed product from design-thru prototype- thru initial production. Once nailed, we sent the product to China - the only place to go for lowest cost and maximize shareholder value. I leaned a lot from my 18 years with this company. We had the best goddam manufacturing team, bar none, in the the USA. I still believe this. Sadly, UT. then GE bought us and they proceeded to gut the core that made this group so valuable. They GE MBA's never understood the value of what they had in this operating unit.

Yet you outsourced the actual manufacturing of the product to China to take advantage of paying slave wages & low benefits. Instead of hiring American workers with decent wages & benefits.

And then you pat yourself on the back for getting "lowest cost and maximizing shareholder value"

Seems like what GE did was just karma coming right back at you.

will be seen and analyzed for years in the future. Big and small shifts will continue as the world continues to react and move forward in a quickly changing period following a worldwide catastrophe.

Half of the teachers in my district prefer teaching via tech instead of in-person. Lots of movement in jobs and positions are happening in many districts and will continue, especially as we slowly emerge from Covid.

I am curious to see how new hiring works in the near future. Maybe they won't be so scared to hire someone in another city/state.