The Redistribution of America’s Wealth To The Few

by

America’s unemployed and downsized workers are furious that corporate profits, stock prices and CEO pay are up while hiring and wages are stagnant. But wait—U.S. corporations are increasing their payrolls. Just not in America.

In a two-year period, these corporate giants hiked hiring in foreign countries by 729,000 jobs as they cut 500,000 jobs here. Hilton Worldwide, for example, moved a U.S. call center to the Philippines, saying the move meant “maximizing efficiencies.” That’s cold, corporate jargon for “chasing cheap labor.”

Likewise, JPMorgan Chase & Co., which hauled in $25 billion from the Wall Street bailout, is moving its telephone banking business from Troy, Mich., to the Philippines. Dell Inc., the computer peddler, has closed its last PC factory here while creating tens of thousands of jobs in China. And get this: Hewlett-Packard Co. has dumped its human resources staff in 10 states, moving the work to Panama. Hello: Human resources is the division that ostensibly helps resolve worker complaints and boosts employee morale. So the message here is, “Hey, bud, got a problem? Take it to Panama.”

Yet a clueless Harvard business professor recently pooh-poohed concerns about this outflow of American jobs: “When companies succeed abroad,” he asserted, “people at home succeed.” Golly, professor, I can hardly wait for you to enjoy the success of seeing your job offshored to Malaysia.

Bear in mind that replacing American employees with low-wage foreigners does nothing to improve products or make them cheaper. The savings on wage costs are pocketed by corporate executives and Wall Street financiers. It’s a massive redistribution of wealth from the many to the few. And the moneyed elites wonder why workaday Americans are furious?

 

Find more information on Jim Hightower’s work–and subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown–at www.jimhightower.com