Europe Is Changing

[Justice]

Britain for many years has been a service based economy, a nation of shop keeper but now Europe is going down the same road as European companies are all rushing to move manufacturing operations abroad where they can get cheaper labour.

Trouble is supply and demand for the UK as more and more people are now competing to supply the world with services and this will obviously have a knock on effect and bring wages down still further for people working in these sectors. Throw in millions of immigrants coming our way and things start to look very desperate indeed.

Longer term anything that can be made abroad, will be made abroad and any functions that can be moved where labour cost are one tenth they are in the UK will make use of internet links and telecommunications will be moved abroad as is currently the case with software and call centre jobs. Insurance , Loans ,HR, Accounting will all eventually be outsourced too.

The major difficulty come with Debt as few people in these countries will have debt anyway near the so called acceptable levels we currently have in the UK and the taxes these people pay are at a much more reasonable level.

Looks like one day we will all be rushing out and training to be window cleaners and other jobs like that where a physical presence is require unless we reintroduce some type of protectionism

[Wuluf]

we reintroduce some type of protectionism

.... already started..

http://www.oxfam.ca/news/MakeTradeFair/Launch.htm

"For every dollar we give in aid two are stolen through unfair trade," said Rieky Stuart, executive director of Oxfam Canada, during the Toronto launch of Make Trade Fair, a global campaign to change the rules of trade. The G8 countries have rigged trade rules, Oxfam said, blocking trade's potential to wipe out poverty and instead increasing the global wealth divide

[needle]

Except Germany, perhaps.

Still the biggest exporter in the world.

Even with the US, China, India as competitors.

This is mostly based on precision engineering products, I might add.

Look on the bright side, they'll need lots of english speaking call centre staff and shop assistants.....so thats ok then.

[Europa]

... unless we reintroduce some type of protectionism

Protectionism is a knee-jerk responce, and it is always counter-productive; it never works in the longer term. It tends to prompt quid pro quo protectionism in other markets, which in turn dents our exports.

Does it really matter if we become a service-orientated economy? Does anyone still believe that the loss of heavy manufacturing and coal mining irreversibly damaged the UK?

The free market is working perfectly well

[MarkG]

Does it really matter if we become a service-orientated economy?

It does if Chinese people can perform the same 'service' for $0.50 an hour.

It doesn't really matter what we do, provided people are willing to pay dozens of times as much for a British person to do it than for a Chinese person to do it. I can't think of too many things that fit in that category myself.

[OzzMosiz]

It does if Chinese people can perform the same 'service' for $0.50 an hour.

It doesn't really matter what we do, provided people are willing to pay dozens of times as much for a British person to do it than for a Chinese person to do it. I can't think of too many things that fit in that category myself.

My job is desk based, and this is exactly the reason I refuse to get a mortgage at 4 times my current salary (which

is pretty reasonable), even though I could afford it (now at least).

[laurejon]

Does it really matter who does what,onshore/offshore, so long as taxes are paid then the majority of the workforce can continue in their roles.......................................PUBLIC SERVICES.

[Brian Potter]

Britain for many years has been a service based economy, a nation of shop keeper but now Europe is going down the same road as European companies are all rushing to move manufacturing operations abroad where they can get cheaper labour.

Trouble is supply and demand for the UK as more and more people are now competing to supply the world with services and this will obviously have a knock on effect and bring wages down still further for people working in these sectors. Throw in millions of immigrants coming our way and things start to look very desperate indeed.

Longer term anything that can be made abroad, will be made abroad and any functions that can be moved where labour cost are one tenth they are in the UK will make use of internet links and telecommunications will be moved abroad as is currently the case with software and call centre jobs. Insurance , Loans ,HR, Accounting will all eventually be outsourced too.

The major difficulty come with Debt as few people in these countries will have debt anyway near the so called acceptable levels we currently have in the UK and the taxes these people pay are at a much more reasonable level.

Looks like one day we will all be rushing out and training to be window cleaners and other jobs like that where a physical presence is require unless we reintroduce some type of protectionism

This has been obvious for some time.

The real casulaties will be the unskilled initially as cheaper foreign labour floods the market. Then (as can be seen at the moment) skilled trades such as joiners. Then it will be outsourcing of jobs to emerging economies. As a parent this worries me as I need to make sure my daughter understands that the skill set you aquire is critically important. The economy will end up with a huge gap between wealthy and the rest.

Oh, and you wont be training as window cleaners because Polski will already have that one covered cheaper than you would do it.

[MarkG]

Oh, and you wont be training as window cleaners because Polski will already have that one covered cheaper than you would do it.

Indeed: just because you need someone physically in the UK to do a job doesn't mean they have to be British, or even human... many jobs can probably be automated away over the next couple of decades if you can't find cheap immigrants to do them instead.

One way or another, pay for unskilled work is going to level out globally. That means either a massive rise of standard of living in the poor areas, a massive drop in the rich areas like the UK, or a compromise between the two.

Given the resource limitations, I think it's far more likely to be the latter than the former. But provided I can afford a house, some kids and a few other odds and ends I don't much care.

[oracle]

WELL THAT'S IT THEN!!!!.....get yourselves a job in defence!!!!!

that's about the only sector where they wouldn't dare export all the knowledge!!!...if they did we would have everybody trying to invade us for the remnants of north sea oil!!!!!