Not sure if you anyone has read this but it’s just another example of the changing face of US companies. If the link no longer works basically it was a stoy in the LA Times about the Maytag company. Sure everyone is familiar with them they produced household appliances and battled with Whirlpool as we were growing up. Well the company recently was purchased by Whirlpool and just 41 days after the deal closed Whirpool announced that they were closing the Maytag HQ’s in Newton, Iowa, as well as two (2) remaining plants in Newton. Many of the employees were hoping that only the HQ’s would be closed but that the plants woudl remain open. But with the close of the plants the town of Newton with a poulation of just under 16,000 will lose about 1,700 jobs or about 10.6% of the people in the city will lose there jobs. Truly devastating effect, if you read the article you will get a glimpse of just what Maytag has meant to this small city which brings me to the point of bringing this article to everyones attention. The world as our fathers and grandfathers knew it is basically over. Working for a company all your adult life until you retire is a thing of the past, the new coporate America is one were companies buy and sell and merge with each other in an ever changing landscape. The Global market a by-product of capitalism has created this sea of change necassary just for companies to compete on a global scale. For Whirlpool the board of directors looks at Maytag as an aquisition or just an asset but the numbers don’t tell the story behind the name of a company that has built up Newton and meant so much to the citizens there. We all shoud take note and it is my philosphy to treat myself as my own company, cause the only one who will look out for you is you!
