How to Keep Jobs at Home

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/opinion/how-to-keep-jobs-at-home.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Penalize Companies That Export Jobs” (Op-Ed, April 11):

Michael Riordan’s suggestion for “serious penalties for corporations that export well-paid jobs” is important but not sufficient to retain American jobs.

Since the 1970s, American companies have been chasing lower-wage workers abroad to remain competitive. There is a need to find ways to incentivize them instead: a reduction in overhead by reducing material costs, better use of technologies, and redesigned work systems to improve production methods.

Restructuring companies through the use of problem-solving teams that include front-line staff (and unions when present) can result in reducing their overall costs of operation by 25 to 35 percent.

New York State, under Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, used financial incentives in the late ’80s and into the ’90s to help companies provide time for their employees to improve production processes, resulting in impressive job savings.

Similar legislation is needed on a national level. Front-line staff and union leaders know what is needed to make their organization more efficient, as they experience the inefficiencies daily.

This approach, however, requires financial incentives for help with workplace restructuring, not just penalties.

PETER LAZES

New York

The writer is director of the Healthcare Transformation Project and Programs for Economic Transitions at Cornell University.