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A comment on America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufacturing Back. Parent comment

Re:America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufac... by runako on Wednesday April 16, 2025 @12:20PM (#43707233)
Even the creepy business terminology "human capital" implies something that a business actively wants to grow. That is in stark contrast to how most businesses manage their people today.
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Re:America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufac... by keeda on Wednesday April 16, 2025 @02:42PM (#43708904)
I find "human capital" better than "human resources", as it has connotations of something valuable to be invested carefully as opposed to something simply to be consumed and discarded.

Of course, in the end it doesn't really matter, it is all Orwellian anyway.

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Re:America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufac... by maxerickson on Wednesday April 16, 2025 @12:24PM (#43707283)
Not entirely. Businesses don't try to grow things like buildings and inventory, they try to manage them at levels that make sense for their present and projected sales.

(So the same sort of mercenary treatment that employees get)

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Re:America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufac... by runako on Wednesday April 16, 2025 @12:33PM (#43707412)
Inventory is part of working capital. Companies generally understand that they want to expand working capital.

Buildings are often leased and are therefore not capital at all.

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Re:America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufac... by sokoloff on Wednesday April 16, 2025 @06:26PM (#43711034)
Companies who pay attention to free cash flow will typically try to manage inventory and non-cash/equivalent working capital down, not up.
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Re:America Underestimates the Difficulty of Bringing Manufac... by hilux on Wednesday April 16, 2025 @08:42PM (#43711887)
How do you improve your "return on capital"?

That's right - by keeping output constant (e.g. through automation) while reducing capital!

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