Thread: Lay Offs
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Old 11-12-2012, 06:15 PM   #32
spence
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishpart View Post
At least one of our customers have already come out in the press that they will not be openining any more facilities for the forseeable future as a result of the tax on med devices. Ultimately this will cause a loss of jobs as they improve effiency on the lines they make now and can make the same amount of product with less people. No expansion means flat labor force at best. I also forsee less med devices being needed as demand for procedures drops. (yes, in English that means as healtcare is RATIONED) This will push all the way though the supply chain in reduced demand for materials, tooling, shipping, energy, essentially no one is safe unless they are employed by government.
Improved worker productivity is a fact of life, if your business isn't looking to get more from existing investments they won't be alive for long.

With the disproportionate amount of health care that seniors consume the need for medical devices would logically rise in conjunction with retiring baby boomers. The amount of innovation driven demand suggests increased R&D to take advantage of this demographic shift which is supported by industry observations.

I would agree that increased regulatory pressure will stress the supply chain as OEM's have been quick to push liabilities downstream, but this also brings opportunity for innovation which has tangental benefits to other supporting industries. Many precision manufacturing companies are doing quite well I might add.

If the med device tax is implemented suddenly I could it see it causing lost some job loss for companies who aren't managing their cash flow well. Longer term though I think there will be tremendous opportunities for those positioned to efficiently capture share in expanding markets...especially internationally.

-spence
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