Navigating Employee Displacement: HR Challenges in Company Relocation to China

Hello! This is my first day on the forums...was wondering if I could get some good opinions... here is the situation.

Your company, which manufactures power tools in several locations in the United States, will be shifting all its manufacturing to new plants in China.

I think the main issue at hand is the employees who are going to lose their jobs because of all the plants moving to China. I keep thinking that there really isn't much you can do as an HR manager of the company. Can you just send your employees to China? It's great to be sympathetic, but all these people will lose their jobs. How can you possibly lighten the news by telling someone, "Hey, sorry, tough luck, you're out of a job"? I don't think you can. As an HR manager, what other issues are at stake here? What would a good HR manager do?

This issue cannot be handled for a manufacturing company making such plans due to economic reasons as saying "Hey! you are out of a job!". Company HR managers need to develop a system job change plan depending upon the company's internal operations and modus operandi.

Relocation of employees—whether within the country or to other countries as in this case—is always a tricky question. It no longer remains solely an employer-employee relations issue to be decided based on "rights" and economic compulsions. One will have to recognize other important facets of the problems, especially when your HR is oriented as it should be!

Whether the US of A has any laws dealing with this subject, I wouldn't know, but even then, it would likely focus on the economic aspects. As an HR person, I need answers to the following questions:

1) Whether the decision to shift all plants to China or wherever was for business reasons or due to employee costs, non-cooperation, etc.?

2) Whether the employees were appropriately informed of the likelihood of such a new reality emerging and whether they had adequate time to make alternate employment arrangements, etc.?

3) Whether the employer is willing to offer compensation over and above what the law may stipulate?

In any case, the HR approach in such cases should be to convince itself of the inevitability of such a harsh decision. Then, to adopt as humane an approach as possible to deal with the problem by considering it as a human problem affecting the lives of many who will be impacted by this decision. The approach should be to rehabilitate family members rather than merely fulfilling legal obligations.

In the ultimate analysis, the fact remains that HR has to handle both unpleasant and pleasant tasks and should ensure that any unpleasantness is not arising out of malice or some hidden agenda of the employer. HR is bound to act only bona fide and uphold the ethics of the profession.

Cheers!

Samvedan

October 12, 2005