Douche Bags Of The Week: American Corporate Outsourcers

It's one thing to outsource work. It's quite another to outsource work and not have the appropriate policies and procedures in place to assure the safety of the American public.

I'm pretty familiar with this issue as my ex used to import American-branded surfwear from China and had been to China many times...mostly Shanghai.

Everyone knows that China is an environmental disaster. There are concerns that there won't even be clean drinking water for the 2008 Olympic Games and food safety could be an issue for the athletes. The Chinese public is wary of drinking anything from their tap especially in Beijing. The government is rife with corruption, bribery, and scandal.

I think the responsibililty then falls to the companies that import their products to guarantee their safety. If they are forced to put the appropriate mechanisms in place for safety, outsourcing production to China may not be as economical as they think and we can keep those jobs at home.

First it was tainted food. Then poison toothpaste and dangerous auto tires. Now it's toys.

From AP via Yahoo! News:

Mattel apologized to customers affected by a recall nearly a million toys from its Fisher-Price division and said the move will cut pretax operating income at the world's largest toymaker by $30 million.

Included in the recall were 83 types of toys based on the popular characters Big Bird, Elmo and Dora, among others.

The company said it was reviewing the procedures of all of its manufacturing partners in China.

I wonder after the cost of the recall, lawsuits, and the drop in share price, just how much cheaper those toys made in China turned out to be.

To American manufacturers, I say, "Bring those jobs home." And stop forcing me to talk with someone in India any time I need some cusotmer service. Earth to big corporations: they make things worse instead of better!
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