MASSIVE LAYOFFS AT KODAK

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle ^ | January 22, 2004 | Ben Rand

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Be careful what you wish for.

[Lazamataz]

"While we may not be able to do anything to help Kodak as it continues to downsize and lay off people and do what it has to do to survive, we can create the business climate in this community so that when people do lose a job at Kodak, there is a better opportunity for them to be absorbed into a work force here.”

....they said, while making sure high-skill jobs were exported to China and India and Mexicans took up the remaining low skill jobs.

I left Rochester 3 years ago, but it appears "Rochester" will be everywhere soon.

It was nice having a middle class, but I guess that's obsolete now.

[Trust but Verify]

My dentist office no longer uses x-ray film. They take digital x-rays that show up instantaneously on the flat screen monitor in the exam room. It's the coolest thing.

[theDentist]

Who'd have guessed 10 years ago that Kodak and Polaroid would be sailing the course of the buggy whip.

[tdadams]

I am still waiting for the cars with the gull-wing doors that as a child I was promised would be - IN THE FUTURE!

You can get that car with gull wing doors now, it just depends on how much you're willing to spend.

[SamAdams76]

It's astonishing how fast digital cameras took over film. Today, I wouldn't even consider a film camera whereas just a few years ago, I wouldn't consider a digital camera because they were so expensive and crappy. You almost can't blame certain companies for not making the adjustment fast enough. I certainly didn't see it coming so fast. I suppose only the photography pros would consider a film camera today (and only at the very high end). For the average consumer, getting a standard 35mm film camera is just not an option where there are quality 4 megapixel digital cameras to be had for much less money (when you consider that you will have no further expenses with film and processing).

Speaking of technologies that quickly fade away, what of the analog cassette tape? For many years, I had been buying high-end cassette tapes to tape my Christmas programs off the radio. When I looked for my tapes this past year, there were pretty much none to be found. They literally disappeared from the shelves. I eventually found some run-of-the-mill cassette tapes at Wal-Mart. So next year, I'm going to have to consider getting a CD-recorder for my stereo to tape...er, record off the radio. In the meantime, I am already digitalizing the analog tapes that I have.

I used to pay close to $3 for each 90-minute cassette tape. These were the high-bias, professional grade types. I can now get a stack of 100 CD-ROMs for about $15, or 15 cents per 74-minute disc. Amazing.

[snopercod]

Cool. I believe the FDA held up digital radiography for about ten years, but apparently it's "legal" now.

[Lazamataz]

Swordsmiths went out of work when firearms became widespread, as did buggy-whip makers with automobiles.

Ah. That explains why we are shipping chipmaking companies and software jobs overseas.

Computers are obsolete.

Gotchya.

[general_re]

Why did Kodak get rid of Ectar 25?

Because the market for film that slow is just about zero - consumers don't want anything slower than 100 for print film, and most don't really want anything slower than ISO 200, which means the only people buying it were hobbyists and a few pros, and there probably just wasn't enough money in it to justify making it. Nobody else makes a film that slow any more either, so it's not just Kodak - Agfa's B&W 25 is long gone, and the only thing close is Konica's Impresa 50, but who knows how much longer that will be around?

[1rudeboy]

You would have the government intervene in the market so that we could all have Instamatics?

[Reelect President Dubya]

How can we blame Kodak's demise on corporate greed and outsourcing to India and China?

There must be a way.

[westerfield]

The company expects to close or sell about a third of the square footage it now occupies for offices, manufacturing, research and other functions.

Bad news for the Rochester area which already has some of the highest property tax rates in the country on top of serious budget problems. Much of the property Kodak abandons will likely go idle, further depressing commercial property values up there. Residential properties in Rochester already sell for about half of what they did 20 years ago.

[sinkspur]

That explains why we are shipping chipmaking companies and software jobs overseas.

AMD was planning to build a new FAB plant in Austin in 2003. Being the liberal bastion that it is, Austin thought that a few tax breaks would keep the plant there (AMD already has quite a campus there already).

AMD kept telling the city and state it would have to do better.

Well, Singapore got the plant and the $3 billion investment. And AMD will likely shift more production there due to, as they put it, the "friendlier business climate."

[Jhensy]

I'm a collector of old National Geographics, from the 1910s, 20s, 30s. They are all full of ads from fine, upstanding companies you never heard of. Automobiles, appliances, menswear, railroads, furniture, etc.

You never heard of these companies because every single one of them went bankrupt, went out of business, or was bought up at some point in the ensuing decades. So it goes.

Here's to the Pierce Arrow, the Stutz Bearcat, the Cord...

[rdb3]

President Bush should do something to protect these jobs. Maybe the federal government could start buying all the excess film.

Surely you forgot the </sarcasm> tag, right?

[oh8eleven]

I left Rochester 3 years ago, but it appears "Rochester" will be everywhere soon.
I'm still here and work for Kodak. It's 20 degrees, we've already had 100" of snow
with another 12" due today - and now more layoffs.
It doesn't get better than this (and it's only January).

[Trust but Verify]

I'm sure the initial investment was huge, but I bet that it won't take much time to recover it in lower processing costs, less storage space, and time savings to the office staff.

[Mr. Bird]

My guess is they are covering a move to 'offshore' - killing maybe 20,000 US jobs, while adding 3,000-5,000 in Mexico, China, or other low-wage location.

I don't think they want to pay anyone to continue to manufacture a product facing obsolescence. You know, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar; massive restructuring at Kodak is inevitable. No need to look for ulterior motives.

[Orbiting_Rosie's_Head]

Wasn't Kodak the subject of conservative boycotts?

I remember something about them firing an employee because he refused to participate in Kodak's mandatory "Diversity Day" celebration.

Ever since then, they've been on my boycott list.

Yup. I saw that story here on FR a couple of years ago (year ago?). I joined the boycott. When it came time to buy a digital camera, I considered a Kodak, but due to their persecution of dissidents, I bought a Fuji Finepix instead. I love the Fuji.

[Gritty]

Upstate NY is about to become an economic basketcase

Uh, have you visited upstate NY lately? It is a basket case. This will just make it worse. Everywhere you look are shuttered buildings and crumbling plants with weeds growing up through the empty parking lots. It seems three jobs move out for every one that moves in.

It's fine to talk about buggy whip crafters being replaced by auto manufacturers. That's a natural part of the cycle. What is different today as opposed to fifty years ago is, many of those newly created jobs are going overseas, while our population continues to increase - mostly driven by illegal aliens who infiltrate in and take the remaining jobs at the bottom - and increasingly higher up the ladder, such as construction and food processing. Retraining doesn't help somebody who is laid off when there is no job to retrain for and entry jobs are increasingly denied.

The middle class in this country is in trouble. Politically, that means the Republicans are also in trouble, and much more so than they think.