The United States lost close to 6 million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2009. Now, slowly, some of those jobs are coming back. Over the past three years, the U.S. economy has gained a half-million manufacturing jobs.
But even with the manufacturing recovery, there are both winners and losers — and sometimes they're created by the same company.
Take the case of the Swedish manufacturer Electrolux. A century ago, it got its start in vacuum cleaners, and now it makes a wide range of appliances. It's the world's second-largest appliance manufacturer behind Whirlpool, owns the Frigidaire brand and makes Kenmore products as well.
In 2004, Electrolux began a major restructuring, shuffling jobs from high-cost to low-cost areas, from Sweden to Hungary, from England to Poland and from Denmark to Thailand. This summer, Electrolux will begin moving jobs from a town outside Montreal to Memphis, Tenn., where it will begin production of ovens and stoves in a brand-new, high-tech plant.
With the move, Electrolux will go from paying a base union wage of close to $19 an hour in Canada to roughly one-third less in Memphis. The company is expected to eventually hire about 1,200 people at the Memphis location.
'Back To The Future'
Jack Truong, president and CEO of Electrolux Major Appliances North America, won't speculate on how long the company might stay in Memphis. The company has not committed to a minimum amount of time, but Truong says Electrolux is committed to working with Memphis to build success so that it can stay there for the long term.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton is delighted about the jobs. "We're actually going back to the future here. This used to be a heavy manufacturing city," he says.
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