Labor Issues

I saw this article yesterday:
http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=84326&m=1FPD331&c=lstiumfsmhppdsh

It really should come as no surprise: our culture and economy have diverging demands on our business. When we employ people to do jobs, we take on an increasing burden of responsibility- responsibility to pay them fairly, to treat them with respect and equality. The challenge is that the definition of what those things mean changes over time, generally at increased cost without increased real value. Eventually, the overall true cost of labor becomes sufficiently high to drive investments to reduce it.

We all tend to get stuck in the status quo. Change takes energy, costs money, involves risk. What new methods and approaches should we consider to reduce labor costs? What results (other than labor reduction) will we need to address for each? By reducing labor costs, will we actually improve profitability?

Automation seems to be the general approach to labor cost reduction. But which area will give us better payback? Where are we spending the most on labor today? In what areas does existing technology currently present opportunities for cost reduction? What will future technologies bring us?

Until next time- post a comment! We will continue this thought....

Tim

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