Executive Q&A: With Maytag Buy, Whirlpool Is Awash in Sales
So you can manufacture competitively in the United States for the foreseeable future, even with the high labor rates here?
Well, take laundry. Those are our lowest-labor-cost products in North America. And one third of our products are sold in Mexico. We even sell some stuff in Mexico that's made in the U.S. Labor is a lower percentage of laundry than other products. And freight costs to import from overseas ... for a car, as an example, it's a much lower percentage of the overall cost than it is for appliances.
So you're adding manufacturing jobs in Ohio. How would you say the job outlook is for manufacturing workers?
We're hiring. It's still a very robust environment in some areas. Biodiesel, for instance. Other manufacturing ventures. There is not an excess of labor. Ohio is not as robust as Iowa in terms of labor, for instance.
But there are still lots of assembly-line workers who are losing their jobs, like those at the Maytag plants you're closing, and lots of others who worry about losing jobs. What kind of advice would you give to a 50-year-old blue-collar worker in a situation like that?
My message to workers is, make a significant investment in the things important to ensure the plant's future. Best cost equals the best future. All of our union plants are engaging in lean-focused events. That means taking some jobs out. You're gonna lose some jobs. If you don't look in the mirror and say how can we compete globally, you won't have a future.
Is it reasonable to expect somebody who's 50 to go through job retraining?
It's hard to get people to be retrained till they're faced with not having a job. We're seeing people in their 40s and 50s now aggressively trying to extend themselves in other areas. My other message is, stay in school so you don't get in that situation in the first place.
You worked in China when you were with Kodak. How important is it for Whirlpool to move aggressively into China?
Over the next five to 10 years, there will still be lots of growth opportunity in India and China. In China, when I was with Kodak, we did four joint ventures [with local companies]. In appliances, Haier is the biggest, but there are 35 or 40 brands–and no real service. The question is, do you want to be on the leading edge or the bleeding edge? We want to let the environment settle down a bit before making a big move. China is important strategically, but we're not going to go in with our eyes closed.
What's going to happen to the Maytag repairman?
Maytag is all about dependability. As for the repairman, the icon is still there. We're trying to sort out what to do with that. Even younger consumers identify with him. We like the concept. The point is still good.
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