Brendan Keenan on wages and competitiveness: A late link

Brendan Keenan had an interesting opinion piece in the Sunday Independent, following on from the decision by Shannon-based Element Six to relocate jobs abroad - a decision blamed on high wage costs.

Keenan notes that:

We do know that workers in Element Six (formerly de Beers) earn €12 an hour more than those in South Africa. We also know there's no way to match that. So why doesn't everyone de-camp to South Africa? Actually, why don't they go to neighbouring Zimbabwe, where wages are even lower than in South Africa?

That extreme example answers the question. There is more to competitiveness than wages. There is more to it, even, than costs. Trouble is, it is all very hard to measure. Especially, wouldn't you know, in Ireland.

Read the full story here.

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