Why hire?

Let’s pretend for a moment that I’m the CEO of a multinational corporation. Ten years ago (give or take), we started executing our strategy to restructure our organization globally. We had several concurrent reasons for creating this strategy:

- Lower manufacturing, engineering, and administrative costs
- Improve our ability to serve the growing Asian markets
- Market growth in U.S. was forecasted to be flat to negative

And this strategy is working. Not only have we reduced our operating costs, but we also grew our business. Then when the U.S. economy crashed in 2008, we operated at a profit despite the losses suffered by our U.S. focused businesses. We were even quick enough to reduce our U.S. labor force early on in the crisis to minimize the losses in those businesses.

A couple of years later, the Asian markets have continued to grow, but at a slower pace than before. The U.S. market didn’t do nearly so well. But we have hired for a few key positions in growing or recovering businesses. Additionally, we normally cut a little deep in a crisis to avoid morale-destroying serial layoffs. So, we’ve hired to fill in a few positions.

Then President Obama appealed to us to start hiring more people in the U.S. And, yes, where we see a business need we will do so. However, our responsibility is to our shareholders, not to the President of the United States (unless he happens to be a shareholder.) With 15 million fewer working Americans since 2007, we can only forecast that the U.S. market will continue to decline. With the exception of certain key positions, we are far more likely to reduce our staff in the United States and expand elsewhere.

But, I’m not the CEO of a multi-national corporation and am highly unlikely to become one. I’m just a subsistence farmer, an ex-automotive engineer. I am not one of the 15 million. I was originally laid off in 2005, then was suckered into trying to rejoin the rat race. My brief employment from late 2007 to late 2008 probably cost me more money than I made, but was rich in experience. Since then my family and I have completely redesigned our lives. We’re living pretty well on not very much, eating healthier food, and using less energy. You can do it too.