Bausch & Lomb, the Rochester, New York, eyewear company, made some major
changes that had a number of western Maryland citizens seeing red. A Bausch & Lomb
sunglass-lens plant in the area was targeted for closure. As a result, approximately 600 jobs
were cut. Company representatives decided to close the plant because it was too expensive
to maintain the current operation in the Maryland area and shift the operations to plants in
San Antonio, Texas, and Hong Kong.
Bausch & Lomb watched corporate profits fall from $171.4 million to $31.1 million in
a two-year period. The company’s chief executive was outset but that did little to boost
profits. Moving to areas where employee pay was lower was viewed as an effective way to
reduce costs.
Therefore, the bottom line warranted their actions. Furthermore, management argued
that the company brought more to the community-specifically, high-paying jobs that
allowed the community to grow and prosper-than the community gave back. And, in
today’s global economy, hometown loyalties rarely override economic considerations.
Why was employee pay so high in the Maryland plant? When a company such as
Bausch & Lomb establishes an operation in an area, it wanted to attract a skilled, dedicated,
and committed workforce. But, because Bausch & Lomb was the primary employer in the
region, turnover was almost nonexistent and pay levels kept climbing upward.
At the San Antonio plant, in contrast, turnover is significant, and new employees can
be hired at lower wage rates than the person who left the job. As a result of employee
longevity, the average hourly wage rate in Maryland was nearly 33 percent higher than it
was in Texas; the percentage was even higher when the Maryland plant was compared with
the Hong Kong plant.
Employees in the Maryland plant did make more money than their counterpart in
Texas and Hong Kong, but they had given the company something that other plants did nothave-high-recognition quality products. Over the years, the western Maryland plant had
been recognized by several independent groups for producing some of the highest-quality
sunglass lenses in the world.
In fact, employees were awarded a prestigious international designation of quality that
few other organizations anywhere in the world achieves as well as the organization having
been a recipient of a productivity award from the U.S. government.
According to this article, Bausch & Lomb Leaves Town, whether Bausch & Lomb has
played the role of social responsibility to the employees when it decided to close its
western Maryland Plant. Please write down your comments.
Bausch & Lomb, the Rochester, New York, eyewear company, made some major
changes that had a number of western Maryland citizens seeing red. A Bausch & Lomb
sunglass-lens plant in the area was targeted for closure. As a result, approximately 600 jobs
were cut. Company representatives decided to close the plant because it was too expensive
to maintain the current operation in the Maryland area and shift the operations to plants in
San Antonio, Texas, and Hong Kong.
Bausch & Lomb watched corporate profits fall from $171.4 million to $31.1 million in
a two-year period. The company’s chief executive was outset but that did little to boost
profits. Moving to areas where employee pay was lower was viewed as an effective way to
reduce costs.
Therefore, the bottom line warranted their actions. Furthermore, management argued
that the company brought more to the community-specifically, high-paying jobs that
allowed the community to grow and prosper-than the community gave back. And, in
today’s global economy, hometown loyalties rarely override economic considerations.
Why was employee pay so high in the Maryland plant? When a company such as
Bausch & Lomb establishes an operation in an area, it wanted to attract a skilled, dedicated,
and committed workforce. But, because Bausch & Lomb was the primary employer in the
region, turnover was almost nonexistent and pay levels kept climbing upward.
At the San Antonio plant, in contrast, turnover is significant, and new employees can
be hired at lower wage rates than the person who left the job. As a result of employee
longevity, the average hourly wage rate in Maryland was nearly 33 percent higher than it
was in Texas; the percentage was even higher when the Maryland plant was compared with
the Hong Kong plant.
Employees in the Maryland plant did make more money than their counterpart in
Texas and Hong Kong, but they had given the company something that other plants did nothave-high-recognition quality products. Over the years, the western Maryland plant had
been recognized by several independent groups for producing some of the highest-quality
sunglass lenses in the world.
In fact, employees were awarded a prestigious international designation of quality that
few other organizations anywhere in the world achieves as well as the organization having
been a recipient of a productivity award from the U.S. government.
According to this article, Bausch & Lomb Leaves Town, whether the government
should involve to help Bausch & Lomb sort out its problems. Please write down your
comments.
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