An average worker at the foreign factories that make Nike’s goods earns 1.9 times the local minimum wage, the company says. None of the workers The Oregonian/OregonLive spoke with in Nike’s second-largest production hub said they earned that much.
At a previous job of mine in the US, the private equity company that bought out the CEO and founders came to me, a mid-level manager one day and said “We want you to look into replacing the team you manage with our outsourced workforce in Pakistan. They’re actually paid US wages and we ensure every measure to give them all the same benefits as American workers.”
To which I essentially responded: “If they’re paid the same, I cannot justify the costs of retraining an entire new team, when I have a team already trained, doing the work, and there’s no time-zone conflicts or language barriers to deal with.”
I was laid off of course, less than 3 months later. (About a week before Christmas.)
“Sorry, we’re implementing cost-saving measures and have to reduce expenditures.”
“Okay, who else is being fired?”
“Just you.”
The Pakistan team was not in fact paid US wages or anything close to it, and in fact it was such a disaster that they kept my original team on for another year.
Then found a new team in the Philippines who could do the work for pennies and canned the rest of my dozen or so former employees. A week before Christmas.
At a previous job of mine in the US, the private equity company that bought out the CEO and founders came to me, a mid-level manager one day and said “We want you to look into replacing the team you manage with our outsourced workforce in Pakistan. They’re actually paid US wages and we ensure every measure to give them all the same benefits as American workers.”
To which I essentially responded: “If they’re paid the same, I cannot justify the costs of retraining an entire new team, when I have a team already trained, doing the work, and there’s no time-zone conflicts or language barriers to deal with.”
I was laid off of course, less than 3 months later. (About a week before Christmas.)
“Sorry, we’re implementing cost-saving measures and have to reduce expenditures.”
“Okay, who else is being fired?”
“Just you.”
The Pakistan team was not in fact paid US wages or anything close to it, and in fact it was such a disaster that they kept my original team on for another year.
Then found a new team in the Philippines who could do the work for pennies and canned the rest of my dozen or so former employees. A week before Christmas.