Back in 2015, Microsoft trumpeted the opening of a new factory in Wilsonville, stamping “Made in Portland, Oregon” on each and every huge touch-screen computer it made in the US. The company hired more than 100 people to build Surface Hubs. The Surface Hub is an extremely expensive machine, at ~$22,000, so this obviously wasn’t a high volume product. But Microsoft insisted it could make the economics work.
Now, just two years later, Microsoft has announced that it will close the Wilsonville plant and fire all 124 employees that worked there. Panos Panay, head of Surface development, went to the plant and announced that Microsoft is consolidating its manufacturing and will build the Surface Hub in the same place as its other Surface devices. Microsoft has previously disclosed that it builds its Surface hardware in China, so that’s the assumed location for these new products as well.
The company hasn’t explained, in public or to its Wilsonville employees, why it gave up on domestic manufacturing so quickly and didn’t respond to repeated inquiries for comment. But the only thing surprising about Microsoft’s decision is that it tried to make its computers in the US in the first place.
These layoffs are ironic, arriving even as President Trump heralds “Made in America” week. In reality, virtually all tech manufacturing is now done in East Asian countries like China and Taiwan. For all the emphasis placed on manufacturing jobs and the blue collar workers that have them, US-based manufacturing has shrunk drastically over the past 47 years.
In 1970, manufacturing jobs accounted for 25 percent of all US employment. Today, manufacturing jobs are just 8.5 percent of all non-farm payroll employment. That’s not to say that manufacturing jobs are unimportant. But in the US, employment in this sector peaked in 1979 and has fallen dramatically even since 2000.
The problem with manufacturing in the United States isn’t just a question of wages. It’s also about supply lines, and how easy it is to hire and train qualified employees and source proper components. As The Oregonian reports, the vast outsourcing of manufacturing to foreign countries has made it easier to source components and industrial supplies from China or Vietnam than it is to buy them locally.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @12:11AM (26 children)
In America your employees are either taking a sick day so they can catch up on Kardashian reruns, or they show up high on weed or doped up on opioids. In China, your employees are ready for work 24x7, and they drink tea which increases their productivity and enthusiasm. Where would you rather build your computers?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @12:18AM
Dude, if you open a factory in Portland you shouldn't be surprised when your entire workforce fails their urine test.
(Score: 0, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @12:45AM (22 children)
If we don’t get tough on the drug dealers, we’re wasting our time. Some countries have a very, very tough penalty -- the ultimate penalty -- and by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do.
China has ZERO PROBLEM with opioid -- you said it. Never had that problem. Because they have death penalty for the dealers. Philippines, they had a big problem. But President Duterte is moving VERY STRONGLY on that one. Instant death for the dealers & the users. They're skipping the Due Process and it's so terrific.
China, though, they're a problem for us. With the opioid. And it's almost a form of warfare. They make so much opioid in China, they're sending it to us -- a lot crossing over our Mexico Boarder. 60-pound sacks flying right over our Boarder Wall. I’d be very firm on that. It’s a disgrace and we can stop it. I asked Mr. Magoo, do a lawsuit about that one. And maybe he will, maybe he won't. He's not the most loyal guy. I thought he was loyal. But he isn't. He betrayed me very badly.
I'll tell you, my "Justice" Department is a DISASTER. And my BELEAGUERED AG Jefferson Sessions -- I call him Mr. Magoo because the goofy way his face looks -- is possibly the worst AG in the history of the world. In the entire history. The guy recused himself. He could have told me he would recuse. Not a word, not one word. But, he did something I love. He said to our prosecutors, ask for death penalty. The opioid dealers, the marijuana, the heroin, meth & coke. Ask for death penalty. Maybe the court goes along with it, maybe not. Maybe we need to tweak the Constitution for that one. At least we're asking!!
Nebraska, I don't know if you heard the news. But they just executed a guy. And they used opioid to kill him. So interesting! And I just thought of something, we can execute the bad guys with their own drugs. Very fair and a big saving for our taxpayers. No more lawsuits from the Companies that make our Execution drugs. foxnews.com/us/2018/08/14/nebraska-uses-fentanyl-for-first-time-in-execution.html [foxnews.com]
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @01:05AM (1 child)
(cont) Just so everyone knows, I want a MAJOR lawsuit against our big Pharma companies. The ones selling opioid. Some states have done it, but I'd like a lawsuit to be brought against these companies that are really sending opioids at a level that -- it really shouldn't be happening. Absolutely should not be happening. People go into a hospital with a broken arm, bing bang boom. They come out, they're a drug addict. It's disgraceful! And maybe we'll do the lawsuit, maybe we won't. Not up to me, up to TERRIBLE AG Sessions!!!!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday August 18 2018, @06:17AM
Don't fight Big Pharma by playing money games... that's kinda like the rabbit telling the big bad wolf to please not put in in the briar patch!
If you wanna hit Big Pharma, their soft spots are Patent and Copyright. Hit those and you take the fangs right out of 'em.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by archfeld on Saturday August 18 2018, @01:09AM (7 children)
What are you retarded Trumplstiltskin ? China has a YUUUGGEE problem with opium ? They don't bother with the chemically refined product they just go for the natural source. China is the home of opium and the origin of opium dens. Pull you little orange head from your pucker hole and let some blood flow.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 4, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @03:59AM (1 child)
When I was in China and other places, by the way, I said, "Mr. President, do you have a drug problem?" "No, no, no, we do not." I said, huh. Big country, 1.4 billion people, right? Not much of a drug problem. I said, what do you attribute that to? "Well, the death penalty." And maybe they have a little bit of a problem, maybe it's not ZERO. I call it TRUTHFUL HYPERBOLE. Trust me, China is doing much better than us. MUCH better. You look at what's going on with us, whatever they have in China is a nothing.
Look what happened in New Haven on Wednesday. 76 people overdosed on marijuana. On Fake Marijuana. I call it the New Haven Green Massacre. foxnews.com/health/2018/08/15/more-than-70-people-overdose-in-new-haven-as-park-visitors-watch-in-horror.html [foxnews.com].
(Score: 4, Funny) by Aegis on Saturday August 18 2018, @06:20AM
Sorry, that's far too witty to come from the president. Please huff some more gas and try again.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Saturday August 18 2018, @11:50AM (4 children)
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday August 18 2018, @09:51PM (3 children)
I think you under estimate the amount of opium in general use in china prior to the 1st opium war, but granted the problem took on a much larger scale by the early 1800's and the subsequent 1st opium war. I personally suspect that the use of opium and hash was a much wider scope issue in the middle east, through Mongolia and into the far east than currently estimated but I have no factual data to back it up. Any government estimate of illicit drug smuggling FAR under estimates the actual figures, even today on the US/Mexico border the estimate of meth and heroin fall far short of the actual amount.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_opium_in_China [wikipedia.org]
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 3, Interesting) by quietus on Sunday August 19 2018, @02:27PM (2 children)
Could be.
What is remarkable about [the trade in] opium, is that it never was exported, legally or illegally, [in sizeable quantities] from the Indies to the West. This, in stark contrast to other goods also deemed addictive, and bad for the morals too, at periods in time: thea, cocoa, tobacco and coffee, for instance.
Each of these caused lively smuggle activity (which, in the case of tobacco goes on to today): but not opium -- that trade [towards the West], as far as I recall, only started properly at the end of the 19th century. Intriguing, no?
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Sunday August 19 2018, @03:30PM (1 child)
England or Great Brittan as a whole surely did love their opium/heroin. Without it we'd probably not had the great Sherlock Holmes :) Thomas de Quincey, Byron, Shelley, Coleridge, and Dickens. Funny that looking at the modern history of the drug we find Bayer once again at the source, and marketing it under the Greek name for Hero. Bayer never seems to learn or give a shit, anything for a relative $$$.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by quietus on Sunday August 19 2018, @04:52PM
I hadn't realized the role of Bayer -- though I shouldn't be surprised [normanohler.de].
Don't put it all on Bayer though: during the first World War, the rum of soldiers who had to go 'over the top' was spiked with cocaine, produced by (translated) the Dutch Cocaine Factory [wikipedia.org]. Being good businessmen, they sold their product to both [amazon.com] the Germans and the Allies.
If you ever get to the British Parliamentary Archives [parliament.uk], you might find it interesting to consult them for documents surrounding the East India company, specifically the opium trade -- the ideal trade from a commercial perspective: once you had a customer, you had him forever.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @01:09AM (7 children)
Sorry to hear you're not going to get your big parade. I know you're disapointed but if your really want that parade you could always die. I hear they give big parades for dead presidents and as a bonus you would be the center of attention.
(Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @04:32AM (6 children)
Fake News! I'm not getting a parade. We're all getting a TREMENDOUS parade. My great and very brave military will giving a parade, to each other and to our Country. Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Core and Coast Guard -- separate but equal. Led by me. And we're not doing it this year, unfortunately. But, very soon! General Mattis says maybe next year. And it'll cost a lot less than what the Fake News MSM is telling you. It's going to be one of the least expensive parades we've ever done. But with a little bit of luxury. It's what we do. Don't forget, I was the producer of The Apprentice. And the star. I made it the top rated show. And when I went into politics, I got $5 billion worth of coverage for free. I'm considered the greatest deal maker. I know TV inside and out. Like no one else.
Our parade is going to be great for the image of our Country. The ratings will be off the charts. And I'm going to be a tremendous leader. A cheerleader for our Country. We have to build up the image of our Country. People say I'm the greatest showman in the history of the world. I thought Obama, when he got elected, would be a good cheerleader. That's the one thing I said. I said, you know, he'll unify the country, whether it's African American and white and all. You know, he'll unify. He didn't unify. He's been a great divider. I think it's on everybody. But he was the leader. He was the leader. He could've been a great cheerleader and he wasn't. And that's too bad. I'm bringing our people back together. I want peace for ALL Americans. We are, and will always be, one people, one family and one glorious nation under God. Separate but equal.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Saturday August 18 2018, @06:06AM (2 children)
Sometimes realDonaldTrump is funny for all the wrong reasons, and I'll bet he doesn't even know it...
(Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Tuesday August 21 2018, @01:34AM
In this case, it would probably add to the authenticity of the parody...
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday August 23 2018, @04:35PM
After having written many best selling books, and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write, it should be noted that the Fake News constantly likes to pour over my tweets looking for a mistake.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @02:20PM
Will they tow a formation of F-35s in the parade?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @02:29PM
You need to watch the video of Anwar Sadat's last military parade. It made a great impression on him.
(Score: 2, Touché) by redneckmother on Saturday August 18 2018, @03:51PM
s/show/con/
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday August 18 2018, @02:20AM (3 children)
"They make so much opioid in China, they're sending it to us -- a lot crossing over our Mexico Boarder. 60-pound sacks flying right over our Boarder Wall."
So you admit the border wall is useless and a waste, and you only want a monument to yourself.
(seriously though, the misspelling makes you look more authentic...)
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @03:44AM (2 children)
We have a wall, it's terrible. Huge holes in that one, hundreds of miles of nothing. You don't keep drugs out with nothing. You don't keep crime out with nothing. Need a much better Wall. Congress must fund it -- and eventually, Mexico will pay. Fantastic phone call with new President of Mexico. Very hard to stop 60-pound sacks of drugs flying through the air, that's why our new Wall MUST be transparent. It's for safety. So you can look and, "oh, there's a sack flying at me!" You get out of the way of that sack. Our new Wall will stop the PEOPLE. 100%. So important. We've got so many people coming in. BAD PEOPLE. Every one's a criminal. When they cross our Boarder that way, that makes them criminals. If they weren't already. And the guys picking up the sacks, they can think about, do they want to die? Get shot full of drugs and DIE LIKE A DOG. Like so many of our people. So many shooting up and dieing, very sad. We need death penalty and we need Wall. BUILD THE WALL!!!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @06:48AM
Do we really need much of a physical wall when sensor technology is this advanced?
Given time, damn near any wall can be breached/undermined/flown over, whatever.
I believe the wall is just about as futile as the DRM Whack-A-Mole that we presently play with the RIAA.
The only people who benefit are the lawyers and coders hired by the MAFIAA
And the people who "pay the price" are the ones who buy the DRM'd stuff.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @02:22PM
Build a wall around D.C. then fill it with water.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @01:13AM
In China, if the worker collapses into the production line, you just ship him back to the country and clean up a couple phablets. Life goes on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @10:58AM
You don't have enough people to replace them every 5 years by over working them.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday August 18 2018, @01:19AM
Microsoft only has about $1,000,000,000 in the bank for each future ex-employee of that factory.
One could say: with that much, cash, they shouldn't outsource to China to save pennies!
The MBA teacher would respond: It's because they pinch pennies, that they have that much cash! (even after dumping billions in unwanted hardware)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @01:37AM (1 child)
Why are they doing it? It's because they are traitors to the USA and run by a PC rebooter.
So why doesn't the US have more training programs or such?
Wasn't Trumpy supposed to be doing stuff to level the playing field to help bring manufacturing back to the US?
Why can't components also be manufactured in the US?
No it's, because china has virtual slave labor and no environmental protection. Somehow no one in the US has any problem buying from these kinds of people.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @04:38AM
It was my great honor to attend the opening of Foxconn's beautiful new plant in Wisconsin. Where they make state of the art LCDs. Bringing 15,000 jobs. And $3.4 billion going into the state's economy every year. We are competitive once again. MAGA!!!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @02:17AM (2 children)
https://www.bakusa.com/our-story [bakusa.com]
This small company has been going for a few years now. They assemble ruggedized laptops and tablets for specialist markets (like education and field service). Over 100 employees according to the timeline -- so about the same size as the operation MS has just shut down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @07:06PM (1 child)
so they want to
and they load it with slaveware? stupid @#$%.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @09:00PM
July 20, 2017
Look at the date. This is already done *last* *year*.
Factories do not just 'up and move' in a few weeks. That sort of move takes months of planning. These are 20K computers. Not exactly high volume. I know of exactly 1 person that has a surface computer. Most of my friends and family have apples or decent high end dells/lenovos/MSI.
It is like Harley saying they are moving because of the tariffs and 'poof' they have a new factory the next day. That does not happen. It is physically impossible to happen.
You are looking at spin designed to tweak your cognitive bias. You may even call it 'fake news'. But that is much too light of a term on what this sort of retread story is.
I saw this bubble up through hackernews yesterday and the day before. You guys are being manipulated. Even this submission left out *when* this happened. But that does not mater does it?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @04:37AM (1 child)
Few will care especially in the establishment left which sold out the working class for neoliberal policies which have elevated a managerial class with their MBAs or at minimum, Ivy League BAs. For them, working people are the enemy, an embarrassment, a group to be despised. They feel working people should do as their told, vote Democrat, and be happy with whatever crumbs are left. Step out of line and be labeled a retrograde, a racist, a pig. And even when jobs are offshored, do not allow destitute workers to feel embittered or marginalized -- they should have gotten an MBA too.
From: https://quillette.com/2018/08/17/a-closer-look-at-anti-white-rhetoric/ [quillette.com] citing: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-utility-of-white-bashing/566846/ [theatlantic.com]
But even for people of color, the same sort of marginalization happens by these neoliberals and their SJW cheerleaders (but without the moralizing tossed at lower-whites) because the fact is, everyone needs work and not everyone gets to be the CEO. Offshored jobs are lost for everyone, open borders crushes wages for everyone here, and the only people who benefit from that are those at the top, whether they be upper-whites or upper-POC.
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 18 2018, @04:47AM
Dems used to put American workers first. Long time ago. Now they put Wall Street first. I came along. Saying, one team, one people, one American family. Saying, America First. Saying, I put American workers first. And Dems lost big. They're still losing big. RED TIDE!!!
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @08:07AM (1 child)
Can't wait for the moment they'll open an underground one.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday August 19 2018, @11:37AM
M$ will never open an underground factory, their upper management does not like to have that much activity nearby.
(yes, AC, I know you don't like how I spell microsoft)
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @09:05AM (1 child)
A 1000% one would be better, though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @09:02PM
July 20, 2017
Look at the date. This is already done *last* *year*. Well before the tariff talk. You are being manipulated.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 18 2018, @03:17PM
Having had to support these crap devices I can see why they closed the factory. Just don't start making them again. They really suck.