(EDITOR'S NOTE: Each Monday, the Sun-Gazette asks somebody in the area, "What's on your mind?" If you have a topic you would like to share, contact Alyssa Murphy at amurphy@sungazette.com; Savannah Barr at sbarr@sungazette.com; or Philip A. Holmes at pholmes@sungazette.com.)
The grass is not always greener on the other side.
That's what Jersey Shore native Ron Herman believes manufacturing companies are finding out after having moved millions of jobs overseas that last 15 years.
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Jersey Shore native Ron Herman
"I think companies here are learning that transportation costs are a lot cheaper now in this country. I certainly feel the productivity of the American worker is a lot more than any other worker in the world," said Herman, a resident of Pine Creek Township in Clinton County.
"We're the hardest working people in the world. We work more hours and get the least amount of vacation than any industrialized country. I think a lot of companies are finding this out now. The companies simply walked off and got cheaper labor, but they didn't realize how good the workers are here," said Herman, who retired in 2005 from the shipping department of Smurfit-Stone Container on Reach Road after 25 years of service.
Six years after Herman retired, Smurfit-Stone closed its Reach Road operation.
With the exodus of countless manufacturing jobs leaving the country, the days of the average worker making all their earnings with just one company are long gone, Herman said.
"I heard that the average person will now work seven different jobs in their lifetime," Herman said.
"Kids today also get tired of staying and just working in one place," said Herman, who has two children and seven grandchildren.
"Slowly things are coming back. It may take a while. It may take another five to 10 years. It may never be back to what it was, but I do feel it will be a lot better than what we have now," Herman said.
Clearly, when companies replaced pensions with 401K plans, "that hurt them," because a pension was an incentive in keeping dedicated workers on the payroll, he said,
In bringing jobs back to America, we haven't turned the corner, "but I believe we're heading toward it," Herman added.
