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How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

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689 points taubek | 2 comments | 09 Apr 25 12:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.399s | source
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JSR_FDED ◴[09 Apr 25 13:42 UTC] No.43631980[source]▶
It’s like people excited about the new datacenter being built in their town, think of all the jobs that will bring they cry. Nobody realizes it takes 6 people to run a datacenter.

Bringing “manufacturing back to the US” is a fool’s errand. The future of manufacturing is automation, not jobs.

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1. vidarh ◴[09 Apr 25 14:11 UTC] No.43632356[source]▶
Indeed, US manufacturing has a higher output now than before outsourcing took off. But it employs far fewer people per inflation adjusted dollar of output. Because the manufacturing that stayed was largely the manufacturing that was so cost-effective to automate that not even third world labor could compete.
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2. piva00 ◴[09 Apr 25 14:50 UTC] No.43632785[source]▶
Just to add to your point: what stayed was either cost-effective to automate or had so much value added that the labour component is quite low (like jet engines).