"While one factory cut 60,000 jobs last year thanks to automation, according to the South China Morning Post, Gou's dream of a robot workforce has been slow to materialize.
But his support for automation has not waned. Christopher Balding, a professor of economics at Peking University, said the Wisconsin plan fits with Foxconn's strategy of pursuing automation to counter rising labor and transport costs related to manufacturing in China.
Balding said it made no difference to Foxconn whether it employed a robot in China, or a robot in the U.S.
"Three thousand jobs to Foxconn is irrelevant, so if they're going to be doing that in the U.S., it's not going to be people on production lines building TVs, it's going to be a small number of people watching robots build TVs."
Friedman said that Foxconn had a history of "taking steps to invest in robotics which allowed them to stop hiring people" as wages rose in China".
But his support for automation has not waned. Christopher Balding, a professor of economics at Peking University, said the Wisconsin plan fits with Foxconn's strategy of pursuing automation to counter rising labor and transport costs related to manufacturing in China.
Balding said it made no difference to Foxconn whether it employed a robot in China, or a robot in the U.S.
"Three thousand jobs to Foxconn is irrelevant, so if they're going to be doing that in the U.S., it's not going to be people on production lines building TVs, it's going to be a small number of people watching robots build TVs."
Friedman said that Foxconn had a history of "taking steps to invest in robotics which allowed them to stop hiring people" as wages rose in China".
