Gunpowder Chronicle posted on May 10, 2008 11:48 AM | Rating:
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Bank of America, one of the largest retail banking operations in the United States of America, loves America, but seems to have a serious dislike for Americans. Founded by Italian immigrants in San Francisco in the 1800s when "American" banks wouldn't service them, Bank of America was one of those true Horatio Alger stories. But a recent patent filing by Bank of America has a lot of people scratching their heads.
The patent is for a computer model to determine if a country is a suitable relocation option. The reason is stated in the patent:
Business entities have considered many solutions to improve employee attrition rates and decrease the financial strain of a competitive employee market. A typical American employee demands a high salary, good benefits, a good work environment, vacation time, and other job-related perks such as reimbursement for higher education. These job-related perks are expensive and may not be cost-effective for the business entity. A business entity is forced to commit significant resources to employ an American work force and may often find that the demands of American employees far exceed the allotted budget.
I hate to pee on their Wheaties, but it's not only Americans that are demanding. European employment laws basically enshrine a "cannot fire" policy across an entire continent. Most French employees expect an entire month of "holiday" in addition to sick leave and personal leave -- and 30 hour work weeks. Few if any European employees contribute to retirement or pension plans -- aside from confiscatory taxation. And European productiivty is dramatically lower.
And many of those illegal immigrants come here, too, for better wages and benefits than can be found in their home countries.
So why single out American workers? Is it arrogance, hubris, or just downright stupidity?